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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Entertainment
Marita Moloney

The 2 Johnnies issue second apology in video over 'sexist' remarks as RTE future hangs in the balance

Comedy duo The 2 Johnnies have issued a lengthy apology in a video posted online in the wake of controversy over "sexist" comments made on their podcast.

Johnny B and Johnny Smacs came under fire this week after they were accused of airing "sexist and insulting comments" in their podcast and clips used to promote their new 2FM radio show.

The Tipperary natives had only started their stint on the RTE station presenting the drivetime show on Monday.

However after the remarks emerged, they were taken off the air with RTE saying they are "reviewing the matter".

The comedians received widespread criticism for comments made in a clip promoting an ‘Irish Car Stickers’ segment on their podcast.

The 2 Johnnies (RTE)

The slogans sent in by listeners, which were described by the hosts as "scandalous", included: “Tyres are like women, no good unless they are squealing” and “She’s not a princess, she’s a sl*t.”

The 2 Johnnies subsequently removed the clip, issued an apology and even spoke on RTE's Liveline show on Friday to explain the matter.

Taking to Instagram on Friday night, they issued another apology in a video and explained what led to the furore.

Johnny B explained: "We wanted to come on an talk to ye about the last few days, about our podcast and the reaction to it.

"We had a thread on our podcast about car stickers in Ireland - listeners sent us in car stickers and we read them out.

"We talked about some of them and they were funny...some of them were rude, some of them were too far.

"We condemned them in our own language, saying these are scandalous, these are too far, who thinks these are a good idea, but we did not go far enough and we were not clear enough in our condemnation and for that, we are sorry.

"If you have these on your car, talk to the women in your life about your car stickers, are they too far, if your mate has them, pull him for a chat."

Johnny Smacs then chimed in, saying they apologised for the clip on social media about the car stickers and although it was compiled by a member of their team, it went out on their channels and so it was their responsibility.

Johnny B said that 2FM had nothing to do with the video - they neither approved it nor were they "aware of its existence until it was taken down".

(Ruth Medjber @ruthlessimagery)

They then explained how their popular podcast covered topics such as consent, safe sex, women in sport and body image issues over the past four years.

"We're not perfect and we get it wrong sometimes and for that we are sorry," Johnny Smacs said.

Johnny B added: "We're comedians and we try to be funny, sometimes we get it wrong and we've made mistakes here and we say stupid sh*t all the time."

They thanked people for their messages of support and said they want to represent their podcast listeners better.

The duo will be back for their podcast on Monday, they added.

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