The Project hosts Waleed Aly and Sarah Harris have issued a lengthy apology for a untasteful joke that aired on the show on Tuesday night.
At the beginning of The Project’s Wednesday show, Waleed said:
“During an interview last night, our guest told a joke which we know was deeply and needlessly offensive to many of you.”
“We want to acknowledge the particular offence and hurt that that caused our Muslim, but especially our Christian viewers. Obviously, I understand just how profound that offence was,” Waleed continued.
Wednesday nights show opened with an apology from Waleed and Sarah.
(Image: Ten)
.png?resize=380%2C285)
Sarah added, “Live TV is unpredictable and when this happened in the last few moments of last night’s show, it genuinely took us all by surprise and there wasn’t a lot of time to react in any sort of considered way.”
The two then went on to simply apologise to viewers. “We acknowledge the offence that it caused but more than that, we’re sorry,” Waleed said before Sarah chimed in with, “Very sorry.”
The apology comes after queer comedian Reuben Kaye made a joke about Jesus that got many viewers riled up during his appearance on The Project on Tuesday evening.
Initially, Reuben explained that he regularly gets people negatively messaging him on TikTok and they criticise his sexuality from a “religious angle”.
Comedian Reuben Kaye caused a stir with his joke on Tuesday nights show.
(Image: Ten)The comedian then joked, “I think it’s hilarious when someone messages me and says, ‘You have to accept Jesus’ love or you will burn in hell,’ because I love Jesus. I love any man who can get nailed for three days straight and come back for more.”
The Project host Waleed Aly looked a little shocked whilst the live audience burst out laughing.
Many viewers took to social media to voice their outrage at Reuben’s joke. Prior to the apology that was made last night, many were calling on the Channel 10 show to issue a formal apology.
On Facebook, one viewer wrote, “Would be nice to see an apology for the insulting comments made about Jesus,” while another said, “The Project, what on earth were you thinking about when airing and promoting hate against the Christian community? Where did ‘equality and inclusion’ go? Treat everyone the way you would want to be treated.”
Meanwhile on Twitter, a viewer wrote, “@theprojecttv that was a disgusting joke about Jesus. You better apologise to your viewers. Inclusion is not exclusive to only some groups. I accidentally watched it while waiting for Survivor to start. Panel looked uncomfortable and should have spoke[n] up.”
In 2023 The Project has debuted and almost entirely new panel line-up.
(Image: Ten)Of course, some fans of The Project defended Reuben and his joke.
“All of the conservative people losing their shit is funnier than the @ReubenKaye Jesus Joke, and that was hella funny. 🤣🤣🤣,” one Twitter user wrote.
Another said, “People losing their MINDS over @ReubenKaye on The Project doing some Jesus gear. It’s FUNNY. Grow up.”
