Magic Talk host Ryan Bridge has condemned a racist caller who dubbed Māori "Stone Age people" on the talkback station on Tuesday, saying he was "disappointed" the remarks weren't challenged by host John Banks.
Bridge's comments come after a TikTok user uploaded a video of them listening to the station on Tuesday while driving in their car, capturing shocking remarks from a caller named Richard, speaking to fill-in host John Banks.
"This notion that Māori are victims... they're victims of their own genetic background. They're genetically predisposed to crime, alcohol and underperformance," the caller can be heard saying.
"Educationally, they just do not have the - they're Stone Age people from a Stone Age culture and I'm not interested one bit, and neither have my children been interested in, their Stone Age culture."
Banks then chimed in: "Just a minute, just a minute. Your children need to get used to their Stone Age culture because if their Stone Age culture doesn't change, these people will come through your bathroom window... exactly, Richard. And thanks for the call."
Bridge said hearing the call from Banks' show "made his skin crawl" in a video statement on Instagram.
He condemned the caller's remarks as "blatantly racist and factually incorrect", and was "disappointed" the racist sentiments were not challenged by Banks.
"I just wanted to let our Māori listeners know that I don't subscribe to those views, other hosts on this station don't subscribe to those views," Bridge said.
"That kind of shit shouldn't have been aired, or it should have been challenged."
The clip of the radio segment quickly prompted outrage on social media, with one Twitter user challenging companies like Vodafone and Kiwibank - who run ads on the station - to take a stand.
Both companies confirmed they had suspended advertising with Magic Talk and were in conversation with MediaWorks about their approach moving forward.
"We condemn racism in any form," Kiwibank wrote on Twitter.
Banks issued an apology on-air on Wednesday, saying he "didn't pick up" on the caller's "denigrating remarks" about Māori at the time.
"His comments were wrong and racist, and they have no place on this broadcast," Banks said.
"I also made some generic negative statements about Māori people and practices that could have been misconstrued as racist, and I apologise for that. It's not my intention, I'm not racist."
A spokesperson for MediaWorks Radio told Newshub the company recognised that the comments that were broadcast were "hurtful" and that Banks had "unreservedly apologised".
MediaWorks confirmed that Banks had been filling in for the show's regular host Peter Williams, but that Leah Panapa would be taking over for the remainder of the week.
