After the Paralympics hema

Sat.1 kicks Luke Mockridge out of the program

(Bild: picturedesk.com/Rolf Vennenbernd / dpa)

Sat.1 shows Luke Mockridge the red card. After his inappropriate "jokes" about Paralympic athletes, the channel will not broadcast the 35-year-old's new show "Was ist in der Box?" (What's in the box?).

In his podcast "The Germans", Luke Mockridge made extremely tasteless fun of Paralympic athletes. "There are people without legs and arms, you throw them into a pool - and whoever drowns last is the winner," he "joked". 

Outrage after inappropriate joke
The more than unfunny joke caused a great deal of outrage, which in turn prompted Mockridge to issue a public apology. But despite the 35-year-old's remorse, Sat.1 is now drawing the consequences from the scandal, as Sat.1 spokesperson Christoph Körfer explained to "Bild".

"The statements about disabled people and para-athletes, about which many people are rightly outraged, do not fit in with our values," said Körfer in a statement.

Sat.1 does not launch new show
Mockridge "quickly realized what he had done wrong with these sentences" and "therefore apologized publicly and credibly for his inappropriate words - and accepted the invitation from the German Disabled Sports Association". "Nevertheless, Sat.1 has decided not to launch its new show 'Was ist in der Box?" on September 12."

Sat.1 hopes that Mockridge will "find a way to follow up his apology with action and continue to address the issue in the interests of all people with disabilities and in the interests of all para-athletes who have impressed and enchanted us with their performances in Paris," the Sat.1 spokesperson concluded.

Meanwhile, the outrage over the statements continues. Kristina Vogel, Olympic champion in track cycling in 2012 and 2016, who has been paralyzed in a wheelchair since a training accident, has collected reactions and strongly criticized Mockridge. "That is inhumane, disgusting and discriminatory," said the German.