The JUNOs have released an apology to the public after Russell Peter’s made several offensive jokes at the awards ceremony last Sunday.
The Toronto comedian looked out at the Ottawa audience in the Canadian Tire Centre, saying “Look at all the young girls. This is a felony waiting to happen.”
His comments were met with immediate backlash online by the music community, some calling for a statement from the JUNOs.
Congrats @allan_reid & @TheJunoAwards but Russell Peters's 'joke' abt young women had no place at the Junos https://t.co/poAIs74pok Comment?
— Sarah Harmer (@sarah_harmer) April 3, 2017
Allan Reid, President & CEO, CARAS/The JUNOs has now come forward, apologizing for Peters’ “off-script” remarks about the young women in attendance at the event, as well as Peters’ comments about Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly. Peters questioned why Joly was handing out an award, but then joked “she’s hot, so who cares?”
Russell Peters fucked it all the way up at the Junos
— tanya tagaq (@tagaq) April 4, 2017
Russell Peters you old man don't make lewd comments about underaged girls just because they were at the junos to swoon over Shawn Mendez
— tanya tagaq (@tagaq) April 4, 2017
Reid wrote on behalf of the JUNOs:
“We do not, in any way support, nor did we sanction, the off-script remarks Mr. Peters made in regards to the girls and women in attendance at the Awards, along with his inappropriate reference to the Honourable Minister Mélanie Joly.”
“CARAS and our charitable arm MusiCounts, conduct significant efforts to engage and support women, particularly funding initiatives for girls in school and community music programs. While we understand that there is still a lot of work to be done in these areas, we firmly believe the first step is empowering females.“
good to hear that over the weekend you all figured out how much russell peters sucks
— Scaachi (@Scaachi) April 4, 2017