TV COMEDIAN Peter Helliar has been forced to apologise after making a "cheap and cruel" joke about hepatitis. Hepatitis Australia said it was offended by an on-air gag in which Helliar joked of giving hepatitis C to Pamela Anderson for her 40th birthday. In a segment on Sunday night variety show , the comedian pondered the best present for the blonde actor.
Oh, wait, she already got that last year, Helliar said on the Channel 10 program. Hepatitis Australia chief executive Helen Tyrrell said the irresponsible comment was a cruel and discriminatory attempt at humour. Many of the 260,000 Australians affected by hepatitis C already experience stigma and discrimination on a regular basis, and ignorant comedy like this only adds to the pain, Ms Tyrrell said.
Helliar yesterday said he did not mean to cause offence. I realise hepatitis is a disease affecting many Australians, he said in a statement. TV COMEDIAN Peter Helliar has been forced to apologise after making a "cheap and cruel" joke about hepatitis.
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