A BBC Radio 1Xtra DJ has quit over the company’s use of the N-word in a report about a racist attack in the United Kingdom, according to a BBC report and a post on the DJ’s Instagram.
David Whitely, who goes by the name Sideman on air, posted to Instagram on Saturday to say he was leaving his position with Radio 1Xtra immediately.
“I’m OK with process, I’m OK with waiting, within reason, for certain things to change but the BBC sanctioning the N-word being said on national television by a white person is something I can’t rock with,” Whitely said in the Instagram post.
In a statement emailed to NBC News, a 1Xtra spokesperson called Whitely an “incredibly talented DJ.”
“Obviously we are disappointed that he has taken this decision. We absolutely wish him well for the future. The door is always open for future projects,” the spokesperson said.
On July 29, the BBC aired a report on a musician and National Health Service worker who was hit by a car and suffered a broken leg, nose and cheekbone, according to the BBC.
Police said the suspects used the racial slur during the attack, and it is being treated as “racially aggravated,” according to the BBC. The correspondent in the segment, who is white, used the full racial slur while reporting on the attack.
“This is an error in judgement where I can’t just smile with you through the process and act like everything is OK. I’m happy working with organizations until we all get it right but this feels like more than getting it wrong,” Whitely said. “The action and the defense of the action feels like a slap in the face of our community.”
The BBC initially defended the use of the N-word in reporting the story, saying the victim’s family wanted the full extent of the attack to be heard by the public, but has since acknowledged it made a mistake.
As of August 6, approximately 18,600 complaints had been made about the broadcast.
In an email sent to BBC staff by its Director-General Tony Hall, which was forwarded to NBC News, Hall acknowledged that the BBC should’ve “taken a different approach.”
“This is important journalism which the BBC should be reporting on and we will continue to do so. Yet despite these good intentions, I recognise that we have ended up creating distress amongst many people. The BBC now accepts that we should have taken a different approach at the time of broadcast and we are very sorry for that,” the email states.
Hall added that the company will be “strengthening our guidance on offensive language across our output.”
“Every organisation should be able to acknowledge when it has made a mistake. We made one here. It is important for us to listen – and also to learn. And that is what we will continue to do,” he said.
