TVNZ pulls episode after Whanganui MP Harete Hipango hits out at 'insult'

Whanganui MP Harete Hipango says a segment of TVNZ comedy game show Have You Been Paying Attention?, in which panellists decide if names are referring to a MP or a grocery item, insulted her family.

Now the broadcaster has apologised and removed the episode from its On Demand service while it speaks with Hipango.

During the May 20 episode comedian Urzila Carlson mispronounced the name Hipango as she was figuring out aloud how to say it and deciding if it was referring to a politician or a brand of soy yoghurt.

Carlson chose the yoghurt.

Hipango has since posted a clip of the segment on her MP Facebook page writing that "her adult children who carry my whanau name Hipango have paid attention and like their mother are not amused at the poor taste humour of a Sth Africa NZ kiwi (sic) so-called 'comedienne' bastardising our family/whanau name on national television in order to generate a few half-hearted laughs".

She wrote that, as a state-owned entity, TVNZ needed to be guided by Treaty principles.

"TVNZ needs to re-evaluate its approach, Te Ao Māori, and its understanding of how an insult to one's name is, by extension, an insult to one's whakapapa.

"This kind of sophomoric humour is a tone-deaf reflection of how Māori culture and values have been consistently overlooked, particularly during this crisis time."

Hipango, who was this week given the National Party's Māori Crown relations portfolio, told the Chronicle she "enjoyed a laugh as much as the next person ... but you have to be very careful of what it is you're making fun of".

"This is something I've lived with all my life, with my name being mispronounced and made fun of at times," she said.

"Some people would say I'm being precious and absolutely I am - because my whanau name and my whakapapa is a gift to me and it's a gift to my children."

Hipango said her three adult children had "taken considerable umbrage" at the segment.

"Am I thin-skinned? No, I'm an old girl who's been around the block many times, ancestrally as well, but I treasure my name and I treasure the people who have passed it on to me."

Hipango said her son described the segment as a "tone-deaf reflection of how Māori culture and values seem to be in this day and age".

The episode has now been removed from TVNZ On Demand.

TVNZ spokeswoman Rachel Howard said that while Have You Been Paying Attention? was a comedy show that "pokes fun at our leaders", it was important that any humour "didn't disrespect anyone's whakapapa".

"We're incredibly sorry for any offence caused to the Hipango family," Howard said.

"At TVNZ we're really keen to talk to Harete Hipango and we'll take these learnings she has brought up into our production."

Howard said the episode in question would be removed from On Demand "in the interim" until a conversation with Hipango had taken place.

Urzila Carlson's management has been contacted for comment.