Rangers media pair quit as police probe Tweets
Duo issue apologies but colleague stays put
TWO podcasters who were reported to police after a series of offensive tweets have resigned.
Ian Hogg and Cammy Bell, management team members of the Heart and Hand Podcast, were reported by a whistleblower after the site was made an Official Media Partner at Rangers.
They handed in their resignations 24 hours after the club was made aware of a police investigation, which remains ongoing.
Heart and Hand founder David Edgar was also subject to complaint but has refused to quit after talks with Rangers.
The police probe was revealed in the Record after the whistleblower sent us a copy of the file received by police.
On Twitter, Edgar announced that his friends had resigned and said he was “gutted”.
He said: “Having discussed the agenda-driven ‘story’ by the Daily Record, I am gutted to announce that Cammy and Hoggy have decided to step down from our podcast in the interests of their family and personal lives.
“It is clear that as Rangers improve on and off the field, those politicians and commentators who despise us will use every means to discredit our beloved club. I, on the other hand, am going nowhere.”
Ian Hogg said: “With regard to the newspaper article of historic tweets across a number of years I acknowledge that certain language and terminology have been used that is clearly unacceptable and sincerely apologise. “The only excuse I can make is that from a place of immaturity, stupidity and without intended malice.
“However that is no excuse – the fault is mine and I need to rebuild the trust that others have had in me.
“I need to be better. With immediate effect I will be stepping back from Heart and Hand.”
Bell said: “Today I have taken the decision to step down from Heart and Hand due to unacceptable language in previous tweets from my social media account which, upon reflection, were both offensive and immature.
“For this I accept unequivocal responsibility and I extend my sincere apologies to anyone this may have upset. I have let myself and others down and I hope I can rebuild the faith people had in me.
“I’ll use this opportunity to grow and learn as a person.”
Over a period of several years and as recently as last December, Bell used terms such as tarrier, Papist, beggar and bead rattler to describe Catholics and Celtic fans – all highly offensive labels.
In a tweet from July 2017, Bell abused former Rangers captain Barry Ferguson, whose wife is a Catholic.
Using the handle @Beatthatbeat, he wrote: “Barry Ferguson continues to sully himself by mixing with tarriers.”
Hogg, referring to a Twitter user he had a disagreement with, tweeted: “This c*** deserves a*** raped by someone with HIV.”
And Edgar has made several references to “beggars” and “gypsies”, as well as mocking children with special needs.
Anti-discrimination group
Show Racism The Red Card earlier welcomed a police probe.
A spokeswoman said: “The language used in these messages is harmful as they are religiously and racially motivated.
“They sadly mirror what many of Scotland’s Irish and Catholic communities continue to experience.”
Rangers have so far remained quiet on the status of its new media partners.
BBC football pundit Michael Stewart, who has consistently spoken out about sectarianism, urged the club to move quickly to address the issue.
He tweeted: “The latest story of racism and general unacceptable behaviour connected with Rangers shows this isn’t some fringe element.
“Official media partners with access to the top of the club involved. The club has a serious amount of work to do to weed out this mentality.
“The defending of the indefensible and deflection going on right now by many Rangers fans shows how big the problem really is.
“Rangers’ ‘official media partner’ is being investigated by the police but is online attacking all sorts of people. Are Rangers going to stay silent?”