Johannesburg - Gareth Cliff remains out in the cold as M-Net stands by its decision to fire him from Idols SA.
By late Friday night M-Net confirmed in its answering affidavit opposing Gareth Cliff’s urgent application for his reinstatement as an Idols SA judge, that they would fight his attempts to prevent auditions continuing without his involvement as a judge. The first auditions are scheduled to begin next week.
A statement on the M-Net website said the broadcaster had met with Cliff two weeks ago when he was axed. This came after Cliff’s tweets about the Penny Sparrow race debate when the broadcaster was slammed on social media for showing a “lack of empathy”.
Read: Gareth Cliff: M-Net unfair and inconsistent
“In the interests of preserving an amicable relationship with him, Cliff was offered the opportunity to issue a joint statement with M-Net in order to voluntarily step down from the show, which he declined,” M-Net said.
Cliff filed an urgent application in the Johannesburg High Court on Tuesday to be reinstated on the show he’s been with since 2013 and which earns him R356 160 to judge 10 sessions.
Read: Gareth Cliff suing M-Net for R25m
Cliff’s agent Rina Broomberg said her client was out and “probably wasn’t even aware” of the M-Net statement.
M-Net also denies it has caused harm to Cliff’s reputation, saying any harm done was a direct result of his own actions. M-Net also denied it had acted inconsistently in relation to comments made by two other Idols SA judges, Somizi Mhlongo and Unathi Msengana.
Saturday Star
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