A podcast recording by Luke Mockridge is now coming back to haunt him three weeks after it was released, after an Olympic champion took notice of it.
“There are people without legs and arms, you throw them into a pool – and whoever is the last to drown wins.” What do you think when you hear or read a sentence like that? Probably the same thing that the majority of people commenting on social media wrote under the post: That’s not possible!
On Friday, a clip went viral that had been published for three weeks but had previously flown under the social media radar. A clip in which comedian Luke Mockridge sits in front of the camera with hosts Nizar and Shayan from the podcast “Die Deutschen”. All three make fun of disabled people.
Not only sentences like the one above are included there, but also discriminatory Paralympics statements by Mockridge such as: “The first person to have the idea, that’s crazy. The first person to call another country and say: ‘Hey, you know the Olympic Games, I have a similar idea. You have disabled people in your country too, don’t you? Should we see who’s faster? Should we put them against each other in a race like that… shall we see?’ This idea is wild!”
Luke Mockridge receives harsh criticism on social media
After Kristina Vogel, Olympic champion in track cycling, also saw the clip, she shared her outrage with her followers on Instagram on Friday. She wrote: “Dehumanizing shit.” The athlete is disabled herself – since a sports accident in 2018, she has been paralyzed and is in a wheelchair.
Many other people, including celebrities, agreed. “What is happening there is simply disgusting and completely unacceptable. Three guys are hiding behind comedy and making statements that are discriminatory and ableist,” said author Louisa Dellert. She also called on her followers to report the video. Dellert has written her own statement video about it:
Fitness influencer Janina Nagel, who was born with short stature herself, also finds clear words in Dellert’s video for the statements of the three men: “This video was by far the worst thing I have seen in a long time.”
There are also tons of comments under the podcast post, including investor and entrepreneur Diana zur Löwen who writes: “How disgusting!!!! That’s just sad! How can you make such inhumane statements and post them proudly!”
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Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
