The Arsenal AFTV fan channel removed Claude “indefinitely” from his shows following his racial insult towards Tottenham’s Heung-min Son.
The famous YouTube channel, which has over 1.1 million subscribers, made excuses after Claude Callegari referred to Son as “DVD” during their live show for Sunday’s North London derby on Sunday.
As Son was being replaced in the final stages of the game, Claude was heard to say, “The DVD is going away.”
The term “DVD” is a London-based disparaging insult aimed at the Asian community, which describes them as people selling pirated DVDs in the streets and pubs.
Claude, who has been a regular guest of AFTV since the channel was launched in 2012, defended his actions in a response video stating that “the DVD is going out” was a joking reference to Spurs’ likelihood of releasing a DVD. of the game as they beat Arsenal 2-1.
That video that contained Claude’s explanation has now been deleted on AFTV’s media channels.
AFTV owner Robbie Lyle has now followed him with complete apologies and has confirmed that Claude will no longer appear in his shows.
“I would like to sincerely apologize for the dismissive remark heard on AFTV’s livestream on Sunday, and for the response video we posted today in which we were unable to apologize and take care of the comment,” said Lyle.
“As a channel that has millions of viewers around the world, I fully recognize the power that comments made by me or by people on our platform have and it is essential that we do not allow comments of this kind to be made in any form.
As such, it is only appropriate that Claude be removed from the channel indefinitely.
‘In no way do I or AFTV forgive racism of any kind and it is important to take appropriate measures in line with the comment made.
‘I spoke to the representatives of Kick It Out today and I must reiterate that this is not a problem that I would ever try to sweep under the carpet or ignore.
‘The response video was a mistake and I can only apologize for not taking responsibility for the comment earlier.
“Right now we will ensure that Claude undertakes an educational program to understand the total severity of the observation made on Sunday and that comments of a similar nature will never be made again in the future.”
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