GAA pundit Joe Brolly denies targeting Heather Humphreys in 'crude' sex act video
He issued a statement to rebuff claims by supporters of Heather Humphreys
GAA pundit Joe Brolly defended himself against accusations of misogyny by a presidential candidate who claimed he depicted a sex act in a video.
The Brolly video shows the Derry All-Ireland medal winner apparently impersonating a presidential candidate who is answering questions while performing a graphic depiction of a sex act.
Campaign supporters of presidential candidate Heather Humphreys claimed that she was the intended target of the clip, which was filmed for the Free State podcast that recently recorded an interview with independent candidate Catherine Connolly.
However, Brolly issued a statement to claim that it had "nothing to do with" Humphreys and that he was referring to Jim Gavin, who withdrew from the race.
He said in a statement: "Just to be clear, on the podcast I was talking about Jim Gavin being unsuited to the insubstantial nature of the presidential campaign. It was nothing to do with Heather."
He later said: "During the podcast, I made a childish, crude, and inappropriate gesture. The gesture – as if clear from the audio – had nothing whatsoever to do with the presidential candidates. It was making fun of the stock questions and responses that happen in a presidential campaign."
He added: "My action was in poor taste and should never have happened."
The clip, which was filmed on Tuesday past, was originally posted by The Free State podcast and shared widely online before it was then deleted. Fine Gael candidate Humphreys responded to say she "won't let something like that knock me back."
She criticised the clip as "misogynistic" and said: "People can make up their own minds on this, but look, I'm a strong woman, and I can tell you one thing, I'm not going to let this set me back.
"It was a misogynistic deed. And you know, women across the country have to deal with this type of abuse. But I stand up for mná na hÉireann, and won't let this knock me back."
She told South East Radio's Morning Mix with Alan Corcoran: "I don't want to dignify it with a further response." She added: "But what I can say is, I'm a strong woman, and I'm not going to let something like that knock me back. And in fact, it'll probably help me, to drive me on even further."
Ms Humphreys responded to further queries later and claimed that the video was "very misogynistic" and "it was targeted at women".
Brolly, 56, who is a barrister, was an outspoken pundit on RTE for several years. He married award-winning Mayo podcaster Laurita Blewitt, 42, who is a cousin of former US president Joe Biden, in 2022. She had a very successful podcast with comedians Tommy Tiernan and Hector O' hEochagain.
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