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Swearing chef prompts tighter #*@%& rules
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-06-20 15:00 CANBERRA -- Foul-mouthed British chef Gordon Ramsay prompted Australia's parliament Thursday to push for tighter rules to protect viewers from swearing on television.
Ramsay's programs are ratings winners on free-to-air television in Australia, but prompted outrage earlier this year when one episode featured the volatile chef using a four-letter expletive more than 80 times in 40 minutes. The Catholic church called for his shows to be scrapped or shown at a later time, and now an inquiry by the Senate, Australia's upper house, has urged better warnings on programs and new ways for television stations to deal with complaints. "People were offended by the way Ramsay directed his language toward restaurant staff in an abusive and aggressive manner," inquiry chairwoman Anne McEwen told parliament, saying submissions expressed concern about his swearing and attitudes. The inquiry stopped short of calling for new laws to tighten censorship, but made 20 recommendations to television stations to review the way they rate programs, what they consider to be coarse language, and how they respond to complaints. The row came a year after authorities in Britain banned an Australian tourism campaign as offensive for featuring a bikini-clad model who asked "where the bloody hell are you?." The Senate findings comes as Australia debates standards of language and behavior. A government politician is under fire for allegedly abusing staff at a nightclub north of Sydney, and for telling a pregnant rival her baby would be born a "demon." |
