Italian Journalist Expelled from Studio: “Lukaku is a Little N****”
Italian journalist Luigi Furini has been thrown out of a television program in Italy for racially insulting Belgian football player Romelu Lukaku during a live broadcast. The Belgian striker has been in the spotlight all summer due to the ongoing transfer saga surrounding his future.
Lukaku, who has had two separate stints at Inter Milan, is keen on returning to Serie A, initially targeting a move to Juventus and now negotiating a loan deal with Roma. This transfer was being discussed on Telelombardia, a local broadcaster in the Lombardy region, where Inter supporter, journalist, and apparently narrow-minded individual Luigi Furini made the racist comment.
Furini has been a regular on the show Qui Studio a Voi Stadio since 2010 but was ejected from the broadcast tonight after using a racist term to describe Lukaku. Furini attempted to defend himself, claiming that it was a word commonly used in rap music. However, this justification only worsened the situation and led to his removal from the show.
Telelombardia Director Fabio Ravezzani issued a statement on Twitter, stating, “When racist terms are used, you can’t mess around (regardless of their etymology). We won’t accept that this is a misunderstanding. Offering apologies much belatedly isn’t enough.” The statement continued, “It is disappointing that a colleague like Furini has made such a serious mistake. It is inevitable that immediate action will be taken.”
Despite the incident, Furini refused to apologize, leading to various unexpected commercial breaks before he was ultimately excluded from the panel.