Thursday, August 8, 2013

Senator apologizes for royal family insult

MAVOCKE--A senator's off-the-cuff insult about the British royal family may have caused a diplomatic row between Grassadellia and its close friend, the United Kingdom.

Trinton Sen. Bruce Kellney (N) apologized Monday, after making an offensive remark last week about the newly-born Prince George, son of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

The comment came during a press conference in southern Trinton, where the senator was among a delegation of government officials touring a newly-added expansion at the Port of Ocean City.

A reporter asked if Kellney had been following the royal birth in the news, to which he responded:

"Of course. It's very exciting, I'm very happy for [William and Kate]."

"I just hope the little chap gets the genes from his mother's side because, let's face it, she's smoking hot.

And let's hope he doesn't end up looking like his paternal grandfather," Kellney added, chuckling.

Kellney's comments created a strong buzz on Twitter and Facebook, and in Grassadellian media, with many asking how a prominent political figure could make such a rude comment in front of television cameras.

"Any politician knows that everything they say will be recorded and published in the news media. Bruce Kellney actually had a group of reporters with microphones and cameras in front of him. And he had the audacity to say something like this with the cameras rolling. It really calls into question his judgment as a politician," Greg Summers, a media expert with the public relations firm Osten and Gosnell in Mavocke, told GNN.

For his part, Kellney apologized later that day, saying his comments were an "attempt at a joke."

"I never meant to insult the royal family or the Prince of Wales or the beautiful new baby, Prince George. It was just a joke that went terribly wrong and an attempt at humor, and I apologize unreservedly for any offense I caused. That was not my intention," Kellney wrote on his Facebook page.

He then tweeted, "Should stick to being a senator and not try to be a comedian. #EpicFail"

Critics in both Grassadellia and the UK slammed Kellney's comments as rude and demeaning.

"Not only did a sitting senator just insult a foreign dignitary, but he also made inappropriate comments about the Duchess of Cambridge that could be considered demeaning and sexist in nature," Adrian Cummings, Deputy Vice-Chair of the National Council for Women (NCW), told the Grassadellia City Times.

"His comments are especially intriguing, given that Mr. Kellney is no looker himself, so whom is he to judge?" wrote British commentator George Emereth in a Liverpool newspaper.

Some were even calling for Kellney to resign.

"Someone that spews that sort of disrespect without reservation needs to go," wrote columnist Penny Alguino, who writes for the Clothen Dispatch.

Kellney's Senate colleagues criticized his words, but stopped short of calling for his resignation.

"It was stupid, but it's really being blown out of proportion," Armana Sen. Chuck Danbury (C) told the Grassadellia City Times. "This is not a resignation-level offense."

A frustrated Senate Majority Leader John Morandi (N-Lial) dismissed the issue Tuesday at a Mavocke press conference.

"Look, the senator from Trinton made some--I'll be frank, here--dumb comments last week. It was rude, it was inappropriate, it was incredibly poor judgment. I don't believe his intent was to be offensive, but it was perceived to be so by some. He apologized, he's been humiliated in the press and all over Facebook and Twitter. I think this issue is a dead issue," Morandi said.

Adrian Cummings of the National Council for Women, told the Mavocke Capitol Kellney should apologize personally to the royal family and undergo sensitivity and gender awareness training.

"People often say they're just joking when they say something offensive. But that doesn't negate the fact that their words were offensive. Someone like this, who clearly does not know how to control his words and does not know how to speak to or about women, should undergo some appropriate training on how to be more sensitive to cultural and gender differences," Cummings said.

Kellney's office would not say if the senator would seek sensitivity training, as Cummings suggested.

A spokeswoman at the British embassy in Mavocke declined to comment on the matter.

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