- Share this article on Facebook
- Share this article on Twitter
- Share this article on Flipboard
- Share this article on Email
- Show additional share options
- Share this article on Linkedin
- Share this article on Pinit
- Share this article on Reddit
- Share this article on Tumblr
- Share this article on Whatsapp
- Share this article on Print
- Share this article on Comment
NBCUniversal’s Telemundo has suspended two hosts of its morning show Un Nuevo Dia (A New Day) for making slant-eye gestures in reference to a South Korea World Cup soccer match.
The hosts, James Tahhan and Janice Bencosme, have been placed on indefinite suspension after they were shown making racist gestures on set while celebrating the results of Germany versus South Korea, a game that ultimately allowed Mexico to advance to the knockout round.
Fans in soccer-mad Mexico and abroad celebrated the victory with fervor, but some took the festivities too far.
“We are extremely disappointed with our morning show contributors James Tahhan’s and Janice Bencosme’s gestures referring to the South Korean national soccer team,” a Telemundo statement said. “Our company takes this kind of inappropriate behavior very seriously, as it is contrary to our values and standards.”
In Mexico City, after South Korea’s upset over Germany, Mexican fans descended on the South Korean embassy to celebrate, but the fiesta got out of hand when several people urinated on the embassy’s front garden, according to the Mexican daily El Universal.
Previously in the tournament, Mexico’s soccer federation was fined for homophobic slurs chanted at Germany’s goalkeeper during the opening Mexico-Germany match.
THR Newsletters
Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day