The BBC were forced to apologise after presenter John Inverdale made a derogatory remark about new Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli. Inverdale said on BBC Radio 5 “Do you think Bartoli’s dad told her when she was little 'You’re never going to be a looker? You’ll never be a Sharapova, so you have to be scrappy and fight.’”
Inverdale later tried to backtrack from his comments by making possibly a more crass comment : “We poked fun, in a nice way, about how she looks ... but Marion Bartoli is an incredible role model.” That's OK then, he poked fun in a nice way about how she looks.
A BBC spokesperson said “We accept that this remark was insensitive and for that we apologise.”
Bartoli suffered further abuse online from neanderthals who followed Inverdale's lead in commenting on her appearance.
Bartoli won her first Grand Slam after 47 attempts, a record that stretches back a century or more. That's not the only thing that stretches back a century, regrettably.
Quotes via : The Telegraph
