Jacaranda FM management have distanced themselves from veteran DJ and rugby presenter Darren Scott’s racial slur, calling it “indefensible”.
On Thursday, radio station manager Kevin Fine said the former Just Plain breakfast show presenter had terminated his contract with the radio station on Monday, the day management began an internal investigation into the matter.
“Jacaranda were in the process of making a qualified decision… but because the media intervened. we weren’t able to complete the process,” he said.
Fine said while Scott had apologised for his utterance and everyone deserved a second chance, he needed to take responsibility for his behaviour and not shift the blame on to external factors.
Scott resigned from Jacaranda and was granted an indefinite leave of absence from SuperSport amid a racial row in which he was embroiled after calling a colleague who owed him money a k***** during a team-building event at Mabula Lodge near Bela Bela last Friday.
In a statement released by Scott’s media company on Thursday, he
said he had lent Africa Tshoaedi money on several occasions over the years, with the last loan amounting to R3 000. It had never been paid back.
Scott and his colleagues had been drinking at a bar when Tshoaedi joined them, and Scott said “people who don’t pay their debts are not welcome”. Tshoaedi left the group, but later returned.
“Mr Scott saw this as provocative and used strong language to tell the colleague to go away. In doing so he used a racial epithet,” read the statement.
He later apologised to Tshoaedi.
Scott was scheduled to be a main anchor for SuperSport during the Rugby World Cup, which started on Friday, but SuperSport spokesman Clinton van der Berg said Scott had been replaced by seasoned sports commentators Neil Andrews and Peter Davies.
Fine said Scott’s replacement on the breakfast show would be communicated to the media “when we’re ready”. - The Star