Duco boss lets slip vulgar slur
Event promoter thought he was off-air, writes Bevan Hurley.
Duco Events owner David Higgins has made an apology of sorts after making a vulgar remark about women to thousands of listeners on Tony Veitch’s radio show.
In an appearance on Radio Sport last Sunday afternoon Higgins referred to performing a sex act on a woman he identified. ‘‘You wouldn’t want to lick (her) p **** , would you?’’
It’s thought he accidentally turned the mic on during the 3pm news bulletin.
Higgins said yesterday the conversation, played live on air, was private. ‘‘It’s no one’s business.’’
‘‘I apologise if the people are offended by it taken out of context,’’ he said.
He played down the significance of the broadcast.
‘‘There are war zones, there are people in Africa in a terrible conditions. Really it’s a First World problem that some event promoter might have said something. No one got hurt.’’
Higgins referred to media pursuing the story as like ‘‘Jaws smelling blood’’.
‘‘You are stirring crap, don’t make claims that are unsubstantiated. You should be trying to make the world a better place instead of muckraking.’’
However, Sexual Abuse Prevention Network general manager Fiona McNamara said the comment was harmful to all women.
‘‘These kinds of comments are part of rape culture and contribute to a society in which sexual violence is condoned. It is important that all individuals stand up against this kind of behaviour.’’
A source said Higgins had had become confused during the news bulletin and thought the mics were off.
‘‘He was talking away and he looked down and saw that the red lights were off so he pushed his own button on and thought he was talking his own button off.’’
It’s understood several complaints were made to the station, which is owned by NZME, publishers of the New Zealand Herald.
Steve Kyte, general manager of Newstalk ZB, said: ‘‘The comment was made by a guest to another instudio guest thinking his mic was off. While Tony Veitch was in the studio at the time the incident occurred, he was not part of the conversation.’’
The clip has been taken down from the Radio Sport on-demand archive. But a copy of the audio has been widely circulated.
Broadcasting Standards Authority chief executive Karen ScottHowman said broadcasters were expected to retain recordings of all broadcasts for 35 days. She said this expectation was an important part of the broadcasting standards system.’’
Higgins and partner Dean Lonergan have built Duco into a serious international sporting events and management company.
They brought the NRL Nines to Auckland, are behind the Fight For Life boxing bouts, and have masterminded Joseph Parker’s meteoric rise through the heavyweight boxing ranks.
Veitch hosts Veitchy on Sport on Radio Sport, and has just been promoted to front a new NZ Herald daily video news show.
It’s been a rough week for NZME radio. Radio Hauraki breakfast hosts Matt Heath and Jeremy Wells were criticised for putting the mother of an English cricketer live on air when she rang up to complain.
On Thursday Deborah Stokes, the mother of Ben Stokes, said she had not received an apology.
Radio Hauraki said the pair had been ‘‘suitably reprimanded, and are off-air tomorrow’’, but the pair were never due to be on air.