Earlier this week we reported that the BBC had sacked Masterchef co-host John Torode for using an ‘extremely offensive racist term’ in a private social situation at some point between 2018 – 19, and that this had only come to light during the investigation that led to the sacking of the show’s other host, Gregg Wallace.
No one actually knew what it was that John Torode said, though, and he himself insists that he has “no recollection of the incident.”
Well, according to new reports, the racist term that Torode used was the N-word, which he said twice… while rapping along to a Kanye West song at after-work drinks.
The Australian-born chef, 59, was reportedly singing the Kanye classic ‘Gold Digger’ when he was allegedly ‘caught using the racist term during after work drinks six or seven years ago’.
The person who raised the complaint (6 – 7 years later) is understood to have ‘overheard the conversation’.
What’s really odd is that the complainant acknowledged that Torode used the racial slur as an ‘example’ and ‘apologised afterwards’. How can someone both make a complaint and follow it up by saying it wasn’t malicious?
Even still, the BBC took it extremely seriously and upheld the allegation against him. Turns out Torode faced nine allegations of poor behaviour between 2012 and 2019; of the other eight, two could not be substantiated and there was insufficient evidence in the remaining six.
Which means the BBC and Masterchef have literally sacked John Torode for rapping the lyrics to a Kanye West song in a private conversation. Although I suspect that following the sacking of Gregg Wallace last week, the Beeb may just want to start fresh with a full revamp of the Masterchef hosting team.
It’s also worth repeating that John Torode says he has zero recollection of using the N-word whether it was rapping along to Kanye West or not. Whether that’s because he genuinely doesn’t remember or is terrified of admitting it, even with the context, is anyone’s guess. He could easily have admitted it and then beat the drum of how ludicrous it is to get sacked over something like that 7 years later, but I guess he’s happy to move on and be done with the situation.
Which is more than can be said for Gregg Wallace, who plans to take the BBC to court for autism discrimination. Lol – good luck with that.
