Joe Brolly has released a statement following backlash over a crude gesture he made during a recent recording of his Free State podcast.
The exchange took place during a filmed episode of Brolly’s podcast, co-hosted by journalist Dion Fanning. The pair had been discussing the upcoming presidential election, the withdrawal of Jim Gavin from the race, the politics of the remaining candidates, and the tone of the emerging campaign. Brolly had been describing how brutal the presidential race can be, comparing it to a “nasty Rose of Tralee,” while also criticising the standard of the candidates still in contention.
At one point in the discussion, Brolly appeared to impersonate one of the presidential candidates while responding to the question, “What do you think you would bring to the presidency of Ireland?” He then mimicked performing an oral sex act, a gesture that was widely circulated online on Thursday evening and drew significant criticism.
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The former RTÉ pundit admitted to making a “childish, crude and inappropriate gesture” towards co-host Dion Fanning during the episode, saying the moment was taken out of context but acknowledging it was “in poor taste and should never have happened.”
“During the podcast I made a childish, crude and inappropriate gesture to Dion,” Brolly said.
The gesture – as is clear from the audio – had nothing whatsoever to do with the presidential candidates. It was making fun of the stock questions and responses that happen in a presidential campaign. I am very proud of Free State and the production team. My action was in poor taste and should never have happened.”
A video clip of the incident was originally uploaded on Wednesday by the podcast’s social media accounts, only to be deleted later. It has since drawn plenty of criticism online.
The Free State team have not issued any additional comment beyond Brolly’s statement.