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10th March 2023
11:09am GMT
Pat Sharp is leaving his role as a radio presenter "with immediate effect" after he reduced a woman to tears with a joke about her breasts.
Sharp, who became a household name in the 1990s largely through hosting children's programme Fun House, was the celebrity guest at the Conference News Agency Awards last Friday (3 March).
At the evening, he gifted events boss Lizzy Eaton with a shirt featuring him and his famous 80s mullet.
But when Eaton joined him on stage at the the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London, he made an ill-judged joke to her, Deadline reports.
In a jibe referencing the fact that she was wearing the shirt, he said: "That’s the only way I’ll get on your t**s today."
In a post on LinkedIn, Eaton said she felt "humiliated" by the "sexual nature" of the joke.
"Yesterday I was publicly humiliated, in a sexual nature, by the celebrity host of an industry event, on stage in front of 400 of my colleagues and peers," she wrote.
"Afterwards I was in complete shock and hadn’t really processed what happened. Today I am struggling with it - I feel sad, dirty and, frankly, violated.
"I have worked incredibly hard to earn my reputation and hopefully be an inspiration to other young women in the events industry.
"Yesterday however, I was belittled, sexualised and objectified in front of hundreds of people I respect."
She added: "I hope by speaking up I am holding men accountable for this kind of behaviour and reminding them that it is absolutely unacceptable, especially in a professional setting.
"Special thanks to Emily Simmons-Wright who called the man out just as publicly as he had humiliated me. I left the room immediately and didn’t get to witness it, but I heard it was very powerful."
Since the event, is has been confirmed that the 61-year-old will not be continuing in his role as a radio presenter for Greatest Hits Radio.
Having hosted a show on the station since 2019, his contract had been up for renewal at the end of March.
But amid the backlash, the radio network has announced that Sharp is departing the Bauer Media Group station to "explore other opportunities", and that he will "not return to the station with immediate effect".
A Bauer spokesperson said: "Due to the introduction of new weekend programming, a decision had already been made not to renew Pat's contract which comes to an end later this month.
"However with this issue now having been brought to our attention, we have agreed with Pat that he will not return to the station with immediate effect."
Sharp has since apologised for the crude remark, saying: "Last Friday, I made a joke on stage which was not well received.
"I upset one individual in particular and for that I am truly sorry. I apologised at the event to anyone who was offended and I have apologised to the individual personally too."
Mash Media, which organises the Conference News Agency Awards, also shared a comment with Deadline.
"Conference News disavows the statement made by Pat Sharp, it was unscripted and does not represent the ideals that we want to promote as a business," it said.
"We’re doing our part to support the affected delegate in the aftermath and have requested both a public and private apology from Sharp."
Sharp has previously hosted
hosted programmes on BBC Radio 1, Capital FM, Smooth Radio and Heart.
While at Radio 1, he presented some editions of the music programme Top of the Pops.
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