George Hook Steps Away From Lunchtime

Following on from controversial statements made by George Hook on The Right Hook Newstalk has taken the decision to move him to the weekend starting in December. An internal review was carried out by the broadcaster in relation to the lead up to the comments made by Mr. Hook. Mr. Hook stated on Newstalk that there are times when the victim is to blame for their rape. This caused uproar and controversy for the station. On September 9th Mr. Hook stepped down from his usual daily lunchtime slot.

Newstalk had already walked into controversy at the beginning of the autumn by replacing their one and only female host on the service with Ivan Yeats. Newstalk was quick to point out the numbers of female members of staff and the many top female current affairs presenters given a start on the station. The move of Sarah McInerney to a weekend slot had largely been forgotten.

Until George Hook made a fatal error is talking about rape following a story about an alleged rape in England of a teenager. The teenager had had consensual sex a man, an Olympic swimmer, in a hotel room in cardiff. It is alleged that he preceded offer her to his friend, another swimmer, who then raped the teenager.

Mr. Hook suggested she should not have gone back to the room with the other man and basically what did she expect to happen.

Newstalk had issued an unreserved apology for George Hook’s comments about rape on the station yesterday. Managing Editor, Patricia Monahan said that comments made were “totally wrong and inappropriate and should never have been made.”

George Hook has apologised for his comments. He said: “I wish to apologise unreservedly for comments I made about rape on my radio programme on Newstalk yesterday. It was unacceptable to suggest in any way that blame could be attributed to victims of rape. I apologise for the comments which caused hurt and offence, and for this I am truly sorry.”

Mr. Hook was later suspended from his radio show. His replacement will be announced later, while it is likely he will boost Weekend rating for the station.