The BBC Five Live radio presenter Nicky Campbell has apologised to staff after he used a homophobic slur during an anecdote told while taking part in a work meeting
The popular BBC radio presenter Nicky Campbell has apologised to staff after he used a homophobic slur during a meeting at work.
The Radio 5 live host allegedly used the word ‘po***er’, which is a slur used to describe gay men, while telling a story in the meeting. Around six producers and editors were believed to have been in attendance when the word was allegedly used.
Campbell, who is 65 and has been at the BBC for nearly four decades, used the offensive term while quoting somebody mentioned in the anecdote, however many staff members at 5 Live were still described as being left hurt and angry by the use of the homophobic slur.
In a statement to the Daily Star, the BBC said that Campbell “was recounting an incident where someone had used the offensive term” and that “as soon as he was aware that some people had been offended by the language used, he apologised to all of the team face to face in a meeting shortly afterwards.”
According to the Mail, a BBC source said: “At the time, about half the people were saying, ‘What the f***’, but others were laughing about it.
“But there’s been a growing backlash since then. There are people who could be really offended by the comment.”
Nicky Campbell is a Scottish broadcaster, journalist and author who has been a familiar voice on British radio and television for more than four decades.
After beginning his career in commercial radio, he joined BBC Radio 1 in the late 1980s, becoming one of the station’s best-known presenters before moving to BBC Radio 5 Live when it launched in 1994.
He has fronted a wide range of programmes covering news, current affairs, sport and phone-ins, and spent almost 20 years co-presenting the station’s Breakfast programme.
In 2009, the broadcaster was forced to make an apology on air after calling political blogger Nick Staines, who runs the Guido Fawkes website, a fascist live on the radio.
At the time Campbell said: “”We had a live exchange on air during which time I jokingly said something silly for which I immediately and unreservedly apologised.”