The creative team behind a controversial Radio-Canada show called "Bye Bye" apologized Friday for a series of risqu� sketches which lampooned black people, joked about assassinating Barack Obama and made fun of a sex abuse victim.
"We are not racist, not at all," said Louis Morissette, the show's head writer, during a brusque press conference in Montreal.
Morrissette and producer Veronique Cloutier were forced to answer for a flood of complaints over the New Years Eve show, which has become an annual ratings bonanza for the French-language broadcaster.
But this year, many viewers thought the show's creators went too far. One sketch about president-elect Obama joked that "all blacks look alike."
In another segment, a fake news report said Obama would be easy to assassinate because his black skin stands out against the colour of the White House.
But Cloutier, a high-profile media figure in Quebec, worked to defuse the controversy by saying that Obama's victory was a watershed moment in history. She added that her eyes had filled with tears during Obama's November victory speech.
Cloutier also came under heavy fire for spoofing popular Quebecoise singer Nathalie Simard, who announced her retirement in 2008 because of emotional pain and mental stress stemming from several years of sexual abuse.
As a child performer, Simard was sexually abused by Guy Cloutier, who is the Radio-Canada producer's father.
Guy Cloutier discovered Simard as a young girl and was sentenced to jail in 2004 for sexually abusing her.
On Friday, the younger Cloutier admitted that poking fun at the singer and her reasons for retiring was in bad taste.
"This was the result of many discussions and many meetings," she said, referring the Simard sketch.
"I've heard some people accuse me of revenge with that sketch. I don't want revenge for anything. Nathalie Simard has done nothing to me ... there was no revenge in that sketch or in any other."
In yet another segment, Anglophones were called inbred, frigid people who re-elected the "lobotomy on two feet, Stephen Harper."
But Cloutier did little to address any English-Canadians who may have been offended by the crack and instead explained that the program is intended to spoof the year's biggest newsmakers.
"It's part of our mandate to parody the news of the year that has just ended. We have that obligation."
About four million people watched "Bye Bye" on the French-language station and online. The show is considered one of Quebec TV's biggest events.
The show and ensuing controversy have made headlines in Quebec, with many people in the province writing letters to newspapers and flooding lines on radio shows.
With files from The Canadian Press
