DUBAI: A presenter for Virgin Radio who made jokes about God on air was fired after offended listeners called the service to complain.
According to the Arabic daily Al-Emarat Al-Youm, the presenter had made fun of God and religions during the show.
Reven John, from South Africa, made the remarks during a morning show while commenting on a news item about an American court that rejected a blasphemous lawsuit.
Furious listeners called the radio channel to complain about the inappropriate comments and the presenter was asked to apologize, the paper quoted Arab Media Group’s Director General Mahmoud Al-Rasheed as saying.
The government-owned group runs several radio channels, TV stations and newspapers.
Al-Rasheed said that the group opened an investigation with the presenter who defended himself by saying that he was making fun of a news item that had been published by most newspapers.
The presenter, who has been in the UAE for only three months, later on went on air to apologize for his comments. He said that he did not mean to cause any offense to any religion. The seven-minute show that was presented by John focused on odd news collected from all over the globe.
