Paul Holmes' 'cheeky' escapades

Television presenter and media personality Paul Holmes has copped a lot of flack over the past week. First, he made a comment on his radio show that United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan was a 'cheeky darky'. His comment has since been condemned as racist, and he has subsequently been posted on a White Supremacist website. He duely appologised for the comment, claiming he was 'tired'. To this writers knowledge there has never been a link established between sleep depravity and racism, but there is a first time for everything. However, this was not the first time Holmes has been dubbed racist. Late last year he made comments deemed to be 'non impartial' towards North Island Maori regarding a land claim issue. The iwi concerned since laid a complaint with the Broadcasting Standards Authority which has now been upheld on all counts. The Holmes show has been forced to make an apology. But the damage may have already been done. The shows major sponsor, Mitsubishi Motors, have dropped Holmes as a subsiderary, saying the image Holmes is aluding to is not preferable for their company to be associated with. Now remains the question of what will happen to Holmes. He has certainly been around for a while, embedding himself in the spotlight and making himself a New Zealand television icon. He even released his own album. Perhaps now he will give up, throw in the towel, and disapear into relative nothingness. One can only hope.