After comments Samantha Armytage made on Sunrise last month went viral, the young women about whom Armytage made her remark have spoken up in her defense.
Lucy Aylmer wrote on her Facebook page yesterday:
“Myself, my twin sister and our mother took no offence to Samantha Armytage’s ‘good on her’ comment.
“We believe she DID NOT MEANT (sic) THIS AS A RACIAL COMMENT and we have taken NO PERSONAL OFFENCE (sic) to it. We do not think it was necessary for her to apologize and I apologize to her for any distress it may have caused… We believe that if this was the other way around there would be no accusation of any racism. And believe people will find anything and anyone to throw the ‘racist’ card at in a situation where no racism exists.”
Read the full post here.
What Mamamia previously said…
She’s “mortified”.
Samantha Armytage has apologised for comments she made on Sunrise last month that some viewers have since labelled racist.
Armytage said she was devastated that anyone could consider her comment racist.
“I would be mortified if anyone thought I would say or think anything racist. It’s not in my nature. To anyone who I might have offended, I’m sorry,” reads a statement she made to the Daily Mail.
Her apology comes after a Change.org petition was signed by 3,338 people.
What Mamamia said earlier:
Sunrise presenter Samantha Armytage is the subject of an online petition calling for her to apologise over an interview with two British sisters in which she has been accused of making a racist comment.
The on-air gaffe occurred last month when Armytage and David Koch were interviewing British twins Maria and Lucy Aylmer. The women have a “rare genetic quirk” which means while they are twins they look startlingly different.
As she introduced the pair Samantha Armytage said:
“The Aylmer twins come from a mixed race family in the UK. Maria has taken after her half-Jamaican mum with dark skin, brown eyes and curly, dark hair but Lucy got her dad’s fair skin – good on her! – along with straight red hair and blue eyes.”
The petition states that the remark “good on her” was “inappropriate, extremely offensive and very racist.”
Related content: Sam Armytage tells Mamamia: “I don’t need you to speak for me.”
It goes on to say: “This comment segregates sisters by favouritism based on skin colour and gives the impression that Lucy is better or luckier for being fair skinned or as if Samantha can relate more to her solely because she is fair skinned which is by definition, racist. ”
The Seven Network, which broadcasts Sunrise, has strongly defending the presenter.
“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,” a spokesman told Fairfax Media.
“She frequently jokes about the fair skin that runs in her family and how difficult it can be to manage in extreme environments.”
The man who began the petition, Melbourne-based artist Jay Fifth, 27, told The Daily Mail her comments were not acceptable.
“By Sam and the show not recognising, acknowledging and rectifying the statement, they are telling Australia this is acceptable when it is not.”
Viewers of the show have been divided over the segment, with many saying that people need to “lighten up.”
The controversy comes just days after SBS journalist Scott McIntyre was sacked after sending a series of negative tweets on the centenary of ANZAC Day. His sacking has too been the subject of wide debate.
Related content: Journalist Scott McIntyre is out of a job following ‘disrespectful’ ANZAC Day tweets.
Samantha Armytage has not commented on accusations.
Top Comments
The video is just so cringe worthy. Because really there is no denying that she was being racist, look at the co host sitting next to her!
I cannot believe Sam Armytage still has her job! Her comment was absolutely appalling...and for her & others including Channel 7 to not recognise it as being racist is even worse. Kochie clearly looked shocked by her comment too. It's such a shame it has been brushed under the carpet. It's not about being overly sensitive, however comments on what is "good" or preferable skin colour/hair texture/facial features, etc is just wrong. We are all humans who happen to all be different, which is beautiful in itself...we unfortunately sometimes place too much importance on our external features than we do to our internal qualities. I think many Aussies have a long way to go with realising when they are sometimes being subtly racist in their actions & comments.