‘So desperately disabled’: BBC’s John Humphrys branded ‘ignorant’ over Hawking comments
There are calls for BBC presenter John Humphrys to be sacked after he suggested Stephen Hawking was “cut some slack” because “he was so desperately disabled.” The world-famous scientist passed away on Wednesday.
Humphrys, who hosts BBC Radio 4’s flagship Today program, has come under fire after he asked physicist and author Brian Cox: “I wonder whether it was ever said of him, in your profession, that he was cut a bit of slack because he was so desperately disabled and fought through it?”
Here’s that full question from John Humphrys on Stephen Hawking: "I wonder whether it was ever said of him, in your profession, that he was cut a bit of slack because he was so desperately disabled and fought through it?”Brian Cox: “No absolutely not"
— Mark Di Stefano 🤙🏻 (@MarkDiStef) March 14, 2018
Humphrys’ remarks prompted many on Twitter to brand the presenter “crass” and “ignorant,” while others went a step further by calling for him to be fired.
The crassness and ignorance of John Humphrys today on @BBCRadio4, asking if the scientific community gave Stephen Hawking some slack because he was disabled. Can I ask the @bbc, do you give Humphrys slack because he's a white, wealthy, middle-aged man?
— Maggie Chapman (@Maggie4Scotland) March 14, 2018
@BBCr4today Why not cut John Humphrys some slack and send him home?
— Aaron Miller (@aa_miller) March 14, 2018
It’s second time in just a few months that comments by Humphrys have stirred widespread outcry. In January, he was caught joking about the gender pay-gap at the BBC. The comments emerged from a leaked off-air conversation with BBC North America Editor Jon Sopel.
People were not surprised Humphrys is again trending for "bad reasons."
Proving that it’s not only gender equality he can’t get his head around, John Humphrys has just used a Stephen Hawking tribute segment to ask “did the science community cut him a lot of slack because he was so desperately disabled?” #R4Today
— Eve Livingston (@eve_rebecca) March 14, 2018
John Humphrys is trending again and it is predictably for very bad reasons pic.twitter.com/H3hr7aG4tC
— Matt Turner (@MattTurner4L) March 14, 2018
Other Tweeters said the incident was yet another reason to abolish the BBC license fee.
According to John Humphrys Stephen Hawking was overrated and only held in such high regard because he was disabled 🙄🙄 time licence fee was abolished, am sick of paying the wages of total fucking imbeciles 🙄
— Chris Thompson (@F1CWT) March 14, 2018
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