Tottenham Hotspur have said they are “appalled” after the radio station talkSPORT broadcast an antisemitic remark about the club’s chairman, Daniel Levy.
On Tuesday the station’s live YouTube stream broadcast a caller making the antisemitic remark while talking to presenters Jordan Jarrett Bryan and Perry Groves on The Sports Bar show.
When asked by Jarrett Bryan how much Tottenham chairman Levy should demand for Harry Kane, who is wanted by Manchester City, the caller responded: “Levy, he’s a Jew. He’s not going to let him go for nothing, is he?” Jarrett Bryan and Groves quickly moved on, without referencing the slur.
TalkSPORT subsequently apologised for broadcasting the remark on YouTube. The comment was not broadcast on live radio.
In a statement published to the club’s website on Wednesday Tottenham said: “The Club notes TalkSport’s apology following an antisemitic incident on their The Sports Bar programme on Tuesday 3 August.”
“We were appalled that neither presenter addressed the comment, failing to call out the antisemitic trope. We are under no doubt that if an equivalent comment had been made regarding an individual’s race or other protected characteristic, the response would have been immediate and far-reaching.
“It cannot be acceptable that antisemitism does not receive the same level of condemnation as other forms of discrimination and efforts to tackle it should be no less rigorous.”
Lee Clayton, the head of talkSPORT, had earlier apologised for the incident and said the station had suspended live broadcasting on YouTube “until we can be sure we have the same processes and protections in place as we have for our radio broadcasting.”
He said: “We are all appalled by the comment that was made by a caller during a live YouTube broadcast of The Sports Bar. There is absolutely no room for discrimination of any kind in society.
“We are deeply sorry to Tottenham and, especially, to chairman Daniel Levy, as well as their supporters and the Jewish community for the offence caused by this hateful comment, which should never have been broadcast.
“The comment was rightly dumped on our radio station, where we broadcast with a slight delay to ensure any unexpected and inappropriate comments don’t make it to air. It was, however, streamed live on the talkSPORT YouTube channel, which we are currently testing and which awaits a similar profanity/offence delay. Our team did not take our YouTube stream into consideration and therefore the comments were not challenged as they should have been for our viewers on YouTube.
“It is unacceptable that the comment appeared anywhere and as broadcast partners of the Premier League, we take our position very seriously. We are comprehensively reviewing all of our processes, involving our teams across programming, social media and compliance.”
(Photo: OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)
