Australian radio guest slammed for racist Māori joke live on air

Austalian comedian Vince Sorrenti. Photo / Vince Sorrenti

An Australian comedian has apologised after making a blatantly racist joke about Māori while live on air.

Former television host and current comedian Vince Sorrenti was a guest on Sydney-based radio station 2GB hosted by Rob Duckworth on Saturday night.

In audio obtained by the Herald, Sorrenti can be heard singing alternative lyrics to the Dean Martin classic That's Amore.

It started off innocently enough when he sung the words: "When you swim near the sand and an eel bites your hand, that's a moray.

"When you mix up some tuna and cheese and some cream that's a mornay."

But the gag turned racist within seconds when he took aim at Māori.

"When you're hit by a thug in a tough Kiwi pub that's a Māori. But I digress," he said before he and the others on air laughed.

Host Duckworth then said: "There ya go! Vince Sorrenti is on fire already."

The comments have outraged Māori living in Australia, with a Māori warden working in Sydney telling the Daily Mail that the comments were "definitely not acceptable".

"He needs to reconsider his material in the future. Maybe in his day it was acceptable. Back in the dark ages maybe it would have been fine, but nowadays you have to consider things other than people's ethnicity.

"It's not acceptable. It never has been, but it's really not acceptable now."

Austalian comedian Vince Sorrenti. Photo / Vince Sorrenti

Sorrenti has now apologised, saying through a spokesman that he admits that times have changed.

"Those Kiwis are right," Sorrenti's spokesman told the Daily Mail. "That humour is outdated and unacceptable."

The spokesman said that Sorrenti was "embarrassed and very remorseful".

"It's a very silly and meaningless ditty and was never intended to hurt or offend. He is going to apologise on air this weekend."

"When he was introduced on-air the other night, they played the That's Amore music and he sang along without thinking. It was wrong and he is sorry. I'm surprised he even remembered the words.

"Believe it or not he even sang that parody on TV in New Zealand all those years ago. It's a reminder of how much times have changed."