Ivan Yates has weighed in on the controversy surrounding George Hook, following the controversial comments he made about rape live on air.
The broadcaster, who has worked alongside George at Newstalk for the past decade, admitted that he feels “very sad” for his colleague, but condemned the awful comments he made during his lunchtime High Noon programme on September 8.
“I utterly repudiate not only his remarks but his views and they were wholly inappropriate,” he told the Irish Sun.
“But that particular process is under way and I don’t want to prejudice that, either the management point of view or his point of view. And I’m sure that will come to a conclusion.”
“My feeling is that it is kind of sad because the sense I have of it is that it’s the end of his career with Newstalk.”
Meanwhile, Today FM’s Matt Cooper, who is also Ivan’s co-host on new TV3 current affairs programme The Tonight Show, said, “I have actually never behaved on radio in the way that George Hook regularly behaves on radio.”
“I don’t think Ivan would say things in the way that George Hook says things — and I know that certainly I wouldn’t.”
Ivan and Matt’s The Tonight Show will air at 11pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays on TV3.
