ONE OF the faces of the public-service RTVS sports desk, Kristína Kormúthová, was sacked after she posted a racist comment in her status on her Facebook profile last week.
Kormúthová wrote on her Facebook profile that a man who, according to her, tried to steal the rain gutter from her house at night was “a prematurely born, stinky gypsy” and asked why “us hunters” cannot shoot such people like animals. She concluded, “And let anyone dare call me a racist!”
She later deleted the text, but not before it began circulating around the internet.
The RTVS swiftly responded by sacking the presenter.
“As of today we have terminated our contractual cooperation with Kristina Kormúthová due to the situation that arose,” RTVS spokesperson Dominika Šulková said, as quoted by Sme, on May 19. Earlier still, the RTVS distanced itself from Kormúthová’s statements, calling them unacceptable and incompatible with its work in the media.
Kormúthová publicly apologised for her words and explained in an official written statement that she wrote it “in a flurry after me and my family fell victim to a crime”, as quoted by the SITA newswire. She said she did not intend to generally disparage any nation, race or ethnicity, but rather condemn a specific deed of a thief.
Ironically, Kormúthová participated in a fashion show at the International Gypsy Fest in Bratislava last August. Although the organisers originally agreed that she would take part again this year, they have changed their plans in light of her remarks on Facebook, Sme wrote.
Source: Sme, SITA
Compiled by Michaela Terenzani from press reports.
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information
presented in its Flash News postings.
