RTÉ 2FM boss Dan Healy stands by their decision to take The 2 Johnnies off air earlier this year, after they came under fire over an “offensive” clip from their podcast.
Just three days after they started hosting their new drivetime show on the station, the comedy duo were slammed on social media for uploading a “sexist” and “derogatory” clip from their podcast online.
In a since-deleted video, Johnny ‘Smacks’ McMahon and Johnny ‘Johnny B’ O’Brien read and discussed crude slogans on car stickers sent by listeners of their podcast.
Among the slogans discussed were: “Tyres are like women, no good unless they are squealing” and “She’s not a princess, she’s a s**t.”
The clip sparked serious backlash online, and The 2 Johnnies sincerely apologised for causing offence at the time.
Amid the controversy, the comedy duo were taken off air while RTÉ bosses reviewed the matter, but they eventually returned to their show on March 14.
2FM boss Dan has since praised the Tipperary natives for the way they handled the “stressful” situation, and insisted they really “learned from it”.
Speaking to The Irish Sun, Dan said: “There was a storm that took off and I think there was a real effort to ‘do a job on them’ externally.”
“They were two young guys coming into RTE and full of excitement. Then this happens. If you didn’t see it coming, it was very stressful for them. For everybody.”
When asked about his decision to take them off air, the station boss said: “I think that was important to take the heat out of it.”
“Johnny B went on Liveline and apologised. Of course they learned from it. We all learn from our mistakes and they don’t talk about women like that.”
“For instance, if they’re discussing consent on their radio show, they will have experts on, and it’s well moderated. We had a chat and they’re flying now,” Dan added.
RTÉ’s latest JNLR figures, which were revealed earlier this week, showed Drive It with The 2 Johnnies has 122,000 listeners.
