An Australian news channel was forced to apologise after one of its guest correspondents stated twice that Santa Claus did not exist, despite being broadcast live during the early evening.
Comedian Kitty Flanagan made her comments on an episode of The Project, which airs at 18:30 on Channel Ten, before going on to say that Jesus Christ also didn’t exist.
“Oh sorry, spoiler alert,” she said afterwards. “If you have kids in the room, you should probably have covered their ears and gone ‘la, la, la!’ or something.”
As the news bulletin airs during an early evening timeslot, hundreds of disgruntled families took to social media to voice outrage at Ms Flanagan’s comments.
“News for the whole family ... until Kitty says Santa doesn’t exist! What the hell? My five-year-old now wants to know why she said that!” one viewer wrote on The Project’s Facebook page.
“Pretty disgusting that you would allow that comedian to speak that way saying Santa is not real and bagging Santa out [...] my kids all looked at me in shock, absolutely appalling,” another viewer agreed.
The Project's production team attempted to back down from the story by Tweeting a retraction to Ms Flanagan's remarks:
Don’t listen to Kitty kids. Her researchers must have failed her. Clearly there’s a Santa. No pressies for Flano though. #apologies
— The Project (@theprojecttv) December 9, 2014
But the move backfired, with the show inundated with angry tweets from parents who had been viewing the segment with their children:
@theprojecttv sorry but my 8 year old doesn't read Twitter. She was however, sitting on my lap having a goodnight cuddle before bed. Thanks.
— Leonie Oosterhuis (@Mrsoostie) December 9, 2014
@theprojecttv you're a disgrace. Now I can't watch my fav news program without fear of what might be said while my kids are in the room!
— Mardi Radford (@MardiradfordB) December 9, 2014
@theprojecttv have only just got my kids to sleep.Tears,heartbreak & questions re Santa tonight.Appalled and very angry - can't fix this one
— Sara Victoria (@thegreenroomAP) December 9, 2014
@theprojecttv there had wanna b a massive story on how real Santa actually is tomorrow night with a live cross 2 the North Pole #savexmas
— Peter Hallinan (@peterhallinan) December 9, 2014
The show then took a more serious tone in its apology, stating that Ms Flanagan’s remarks were “unplanned”, and that her appearance was the last time she would be featured on The Project.
Last night was Kittys final performance on the show but neither she nor our show would intentionally offend kids like this just b4 Christmas
— The Project (@theprojecttv) December 10, 2014
Tonight we will be crossing to Santa in the North Pole so he can clear up any confusion for our younger viewers. Best regards, The Project
— The Project (@theprojecttv) December 10, 2014
The Project then went on to interview Santa Claus directly from his workshop at the North Pole, reassuring viewing families that his preparations for Christmas Eve are progressing and that he was concerned about global warming. Kitty Flanagan, he told viewers, had been moved to the naughty list.
