Channel Seven has stepped in to defend Sunrise presenter Samantha Armytage after a petition circulated online, accusing her of racism and calling for her to apologise after a now-infamous interview with two British sisters.
The interview in question, with a pair of twins who have two different skin tones, occurred last month. In the preamble, Jones noted that one of the two inherited her dad’s fairer skin, then, as an aside, said “good on her.”
If you haven’t already seen this circulating on Facebook, then the look of utter pants-shitting terror on Kochie‘s face in the seconds after it happens is worth the price of admission alone:
The backlash that Kochie clearly imagined has since come to pass, in the form of a Change.Org petition that has gathered more than 2000 signatures.
Channel Seven have now stepped in to defend Armytage, explaining that it’s all a matter of context. Per Fairfax, a representative of the network said:
“Regular members of the Sunrise audience or anyone who has seen the clip in full will know that Sam was taking a dig at herself. She frequently jokes about the fair skin that runs in her family and how difficult it can be to manage in extreme environments.”
Armytage herself has yet to respond.
Photo: Lisa Maree Williams via Getty Images
