RTÉ presenter Emer O’Neill said comedian and talk show host Tommy Tiernan called her to apologize for a joke he made during a recent comedy gig he attended on Dublin’s Vicar Street.
The former Home School Hub host quit Tiernan’s silly show earlier this month after making a joke that offended her during her stand-up set. Tiernan has since apologised and removed the joke from the show.
O’Neill, who shared an Instagram post about the incident last week, said it was “his first joke out the gate”, and he started it by saying, “My daughter told me I shouldn’t tell this joke,” reports RTE.
Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast on Thursday, O’Neill said she wasn’t able to cope with what happened that night, but she waited a while before leaving with her friends.
Sh said she expected to have the courage to stand up and say something, “but I just froze, as I couldn’t believe it and wasn’t expecting it. The whole audience laughed and were in hysterics at the joke but when it doesn’t affect you, they just moved on to the next joke and forgot about it,” reports RTE.
O’Neill explained that Tiernan emailed her after the concert apologizing for the injury he caused and the offensive nature of the joke, and said she was right to call him out about it.
She said she accepted his apology and that he told her he would do his best to prevent this from happening again. Since then he has talked about it every night during his performances.
“I feel like he has taken it seriously and I appreciate it,” reports RTE.
A Tommy Tiernan representative was contacted for comment by RTE over the joke.
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