It's not any surprise at this point, but yet another media presenter has graciously blessed as with an offensive gaffe this week, with Karl Stefanovic making some fairly off-colour jokes about "trannies" on the Today show.
Earlier this week, Today reporter Christine Ahern reported on the scene from the Rio Olympics, relaying a story about how her and her cameraman were nearly mugged by what she described as "a group of transvestites".
Whatever this actually entails, Karl was quick to jump to the chance for a few cheap gags, using the word "tranny" repeatedly, implying the cameraman had enjoyed the encounter, and playing Gloria Gaynor’s "I Will Survive", well-known as a gay anthem, during the segment. The piece de resistance was a a mock-up of the police sketch of the “tranny”, which was revealed to simply be Hugo Weaving in drag in Priscilla, Queen of The Desert.
While the whole segment was a ridiculous faux pas, at the very least Stefanovic took to the Today show stage the next day to deliver what appears to be a legitimately heartfelt apology – albeit, after receiving a barrage of complaints from the LGBTQI community.
"By using the word ‘tranny’, I offended an awful lot of beautiful and sensitive people. I honestly didn’t know the negative and deeply hurtful impact that word has, not only on members of the LGBTQI community, but on their family and their friends", Stefanovic said.
Calling himself an "ignorant tool" after having spoken to an LGBTQI friend after the previous show, Karl made it clear that he had made a mistake, and was trying to become more informed about the matter.
"As we all know I can be a complete tool. Yesterday, I was worse, an ignorant tool." - @KarlStefanovic #9Today https://t.co/EYFvt33Twu
"I get it wrong — I probably always will. But as a result of yesterday, I truly have learned a lesson. People, my brothers and sisters in the community who love and respect me, have told me to educate myself. I have started to," he added.
While Karl can often be a tool, as he mentioned, in this case it appears that he's done the right thing and tried to make amends for it – which is quite a lot more than can be said for some other news commentators.
