Al Porter Scandal

Al Porter’s apology following allegations of sexual misconduct has been rejected by the four men who came forward to accuse him.


The comedian said sorry “to anyone I may have genuinely offended” but claimed the incidents in which he was accused of groping the men “had been in keeping with my flamboyant and outrageous public persona”.


Porter’s insistence that he was taken aback by “the scale and tone of the vitriol” against him was sarcastically dismissed by one of the men.
Conor O’Toole, 26, who won the Spirit of Wit award at this year’s Dublin Fringe Festival, alleged that he was groped by Porter in 2014 at Dublin’s Ha’penny Bridge comedy club. He branded the apology “horse****”.


“It’s not sincere at all,” he said. “My apologies to Al Porter for calmly and accurately describing my experience. Wow. Sorry I was a bad victim bud,” Mr O’Toole tweeted.


George Fox, 33, who accused Porter of groping him at a bar during a comedy event in 2012, said the apology had left him “deeply saddened”.
“Rather than taking ownership of his deplorable behaviour he has chosen to shirk responsibility for his own actions in a cowardly attempt at reframing this behaviour as some form of performance, joke or an extension of a character,” Mr Fox said. “He was left with no doubt as to my wishes to not be touched by him but he still chose to overstep those boundaries. To come out and attack the people he has already hurt so badly is just another indicator of what little care or respect he has for the victims speaking out.”
Porter last night resigned from Today FM and stepped away from his other roles with immediate affect.


The Times reported on Saturday that four men had accused the comedian of groping their genitals at shows over the past five years. A fifth man alleged to The Sunday Times that when he was a psychiatric patient Porter groped and kissed him while visiting a hospital to promote a mental health awareness charity in 2015. Porter has not commented on this allegation but it is understood that he denies it.


“I have been completely taken aback by reports in the media and on the social networks over the weekend,” Porter said in a statement released by his Pink Tie production company.


“I have come to the decision that I need time away from the spotlight,” the 24-year-old comedian said. “I have informed Today FM that I am resigning from the station with immediate effect. To my family, colleagues, friends and fans I thank you for your many, many messages of support.”
Davey Reilly, 27, who worked for Porter at a comedy night and claimed he was first groped in 2014, last night also rejected the comedian’s apology. “That he claims groping someone’s genitals without their consent and to protests is ‘light-hearted’ or ‘good-natured’ is massively offensive,” he said. “The statement displays the arrogance that he’s become known for over the past few years in the comedy scene here and in the UK.”


Eoin O’Faogain, 26, a musician and writer, said that Porter put his hand down the back of his trousers and pinched him in October 2015. “To conflate a flamboyance and light-hearted personality with what happened is outrageous and it is an insult to the people he has done this to and to anyone who has experienced sexual assault,” he said.
The Times also revealed that a separate complaint was raised with Today FM regarding unsolicited sexual messages that Porter sent over Facebook to a musician earlier this year.


A spokesman for the station said that it did not comment on staff issues. It is understood that the broadcaster considers the matter dealt with.

splinter65 wrote: »

Part of Julian Clary’s appeal and success on TV was that the innuendo and the double entendres were just subtle enough to go over your grannies head so you could sit watching him, sniggering away to yourself and no one was being offensive.
Al Porter is a one trick pony in-your-face blue comic whose act belongs in a venue where people choose to pay to go to be entertained in that way.
It is filth.
I now think that TV3 and Today FM made serious mistakes in hiring him and they will hopefully not make the same mistake again.