Former ‘Hey Hey It’s Saturday’ host Daryl Somers has apologised to Malaysian-born singer Kamahl after the star revealed he felt “humiliated” by his treatment on the show.
A viral clip showing Kamahl’s treatment emerged on social media after Somers told the Herald Sun, “You probably could not get away with half the stuff you could on ‘Hey Hey’ now because of the political correctness and the cancel culture.”
A mash-up clip posted on Twitter showed Kamahl being clocked in the face with white powder by Somers and his fellow cast member, John Blackman, in 1984.
At the time, Blackman ‘joked’ this made Kamahl a “real white man”.
Kamahl told The Feed his treatment on the show was “humiliation. It's like pouring crap over somebody.”
In a statement to 3AW, Somers - who is soon to appear on Channel 7’s ‘Dancing with the Stars’ - wrote a lengthy apology to Kamahl and to those who found the show’s content “offensive”.
“I want to make it very clear that I and all members of the Hey Hey team do not condone racism in any form,” Somers said.
“I have always considered Kamahl a friend and supporter of the show, so I deeply regret any hurt felt by him as a result of anything that took place on the programme in the past.”
Somers went on to say he “wholeheartedly” supports diversity in the Australian entertainment industry and claimed the show “never set out to offend anybody but always strived to provide family entertainment.”
Kamahl tweeted this morning that he accepted and acknowledged the "apology from friend Daryl Somers unreservedly."
The Feed contacted John Blackman and Daryl Somers for comment yesterday but neither responded to the request. Blackman has yet to express regret or issue an apology to Kamahl.
Earlier this week, Blackman took to Facebook to claim Kamahl should have “marched up” to him and complained if he had been offended by his treatment.
“Goodness me Kamahl, 37 years and you’re still ‘humiliated, you knew where my booth was!” Blackman wrote.
Kamahl emphasised to The Feed that he held no grudges against the show or its cast and said Somers was a very “talented man.”
“I've never asked for an apology,” Kamahl told The Feed.
“I am an 86 year-old man, and I don't hold any grudges. And it's their life and you pay for everything you do good or bad.”
