Luke Mockridge: No TV comeback for the comedian

Luke Mockridge
No TV comeback for the comedian

After great outrage over the questionable Paralympics jokes made by Luke Mockridge, 35, in a podcast, Sat.1 canceled the format before the comedian’s new show was due to start. “What’s in the Box?” was actually supposed to be broadcast for the first time on September 12, but the station is taking the show off its schedule. Sat.1 confirmed to the media magazine “DWDL” that it had decided not to start the format.

What happened to war?

The trigger for outrage and criticism was an episode of the podcast “Die Deutschen” by Nizar, 40, and Shayan, in which Mockridge was a guest and which also covered the Paralympic Games. In the episode, which was published in mid-August, the comedian said, among other things: “So there are people without legs and without arms, you throw them into the pool – and whoever drowns last wins.” Among others, former track cyclist and two-time Olympic champion Kristina Vogel, 33, who has been paraplegic since a training accident in 2018, drew attention to a corresponding excerpt from the podcast published on Instagram and was shocked. “So many insults are bubbling in my heart right now… I don’t understand how people can be so derogatory! Yes, you can laugh at people with disabilities too. But this from you… that’s just abysmal!!,” she said in one comment. In her stories she spoke of “inhuman sh**”.

According to media reports, the German Disabled Sports Association (DBS) did not want to provide a further platform for the statements, but invited Mockridge to watch para-sports live. He accepted the invitation in an apology on Instagram. “Of course, it was never my intention to ridicule people with disabilities – especially during these great Paralympic Games,” wrote Mockridge. “It is also clear that jokes that have to be explained are not technically good,” he continued. “From my own experience working with disabled people, I have always experienced a sharp, black humor that I celebrated. I am really sorry that I did not manage to convey that properly and that I hurt people.”

This is what Sat.1 says about Luke Mockridge

Mockridge, once one of the station’s most prominent faces, was supposed to host the new comedy quiz “What’s in the Box?” from September 12th. For him, it would have been his TV comeback as a presenter. A former partner had made serious allegations against him in September 2021. Mockridge rejected the allegations and the Cologne public prosecutor’s office dropped proceedings. As a result, he temporarily withdrew from public life and went on tour again from 2022.

“The statements about disabled people and para-athletes, which many people are rightly outraged about, do not fit with our values,” broadcaster Christoph Körfer has now explained to “DWDL”. “Luke Mockridge quickly realised what he had done wrong with these sentences. He therefore publicly and credibly apologised for his inappropriate words – and accepted the invitation from the German Disabled Sports Association.”

The broadcaster hopes that “Luke Mockridge will find a way to follow up his apology with actions and to continue to work on the issue in the interests of all people with disabilities and in the interests of all para-athletes who have impressed and enchanted us in Paris with their achievements.”

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