The comments came a week after the country’s worst earthquake in modern history
(Picture: Twitter)Capital Radio DJ Ant Payne has apologised for making an “insensitive and ill-timed” joke on air about earthquake-hit Turkey which has devastated the country.
The presenter, who hosts the drivetime slot on the station, said during his show on Monday that “now is actually the best time” to start looking for “cheap flights” to Turkey just a week after the country’s worst earthquake in modern history.
Addressing the listeners between songs, Ant said: “I think now actually is the best time to start looking at some cheap flights to Turkey over the next few years.
“You can get your teeth done while you’re over there.”
Adding: “You can come back looking 19 years, you’ll be on Love Island next year if you do it!”
His on-air comments immediately sparked backlash online with one listener tweeting: “Cant believe I just heard @ant_man_go make fun of the #Turkeyearthquake on @CapitalOfficial - he said ‘flight from now for a few years should be cheap to Turkey to get your teeth done’ I wonder how all the Turkish&Syrian communities and victims of this disaster feel about that?”
Over 35,000 are dead. A country in mourning. Thousands of people trying to raise money for those affected and this is what @CapitalOfficial says about it. I am in shock and disgusted… pic.twitter.com/nbvThiZpaX
— ErayBeyi (@eray0108) February 13, 2023
To which, the DJ hit back, replying: “Except I said nothing of the sort…”
Another penned: “@CapitalOfficial are you seriously going to allow this shameful and heartless employer of yours Ant Payne to make jokes at the expense people, children who died in the #TurkeyEarthquake?!! Disgusting piece of S**t!!!”
While Liberal Democrat town and district councillor Suzanne Nuri-Nixon added: “Wow @CapitalOfficial, just wow! Read the room Ant Payne, thousands have died, thousands are in mourning and you crack a ‘joke’?! Man, did you misread the room!”
In light of the furore, Payne apologised for his comments on Tuesday morning on Twitter, writing: “Hi guys, I want to address the comment I made last night on the show.
“It was insensitive and ill timed.
“I would never wish to offend anyone from my shows. My sincere and wholehearted apologies.”
Hi guys, I want to address the comment I made last night on the show. It was insensitive and ill timed. I would never wish to offend anyone from my shows. My sincere and wholehearted apologies.
— Ant Payne (@ant_man_go) February 14, 2023
Rescuers in Turkey pulled several people alive from collapsed buildings on Monday, a week after the country’s worst earthquake in modern history, but hopes of many more survivors were fading and criticism of the authorities grew.
In hard-hit Kahramanmaras, rescuers were attempting to reach a grandmother, mother and daughter, all from one family, who appeared to have survived the 7.8 magnitude Feb. 6 quake and aftershock which killed more than 37,000 in Turkey and Syria.
But others were bracing for the inevitable scaling down of operations as low temperatures reduced the already slim chances of survival, with some Polish rescuers announcing they would leave on Wednesday.
The Evening Standard has approached Global Media for comment.
