5fm suspends Gareth Cliff for "interviewing" Jesus

Cliff apologised to his listeners today for any offence he may have caused, stating that he had not intentionally aimed to disparage any religion, but rather to parody the motion picture "The Passion Of The Christ" which has been greeted with vigorous debate internationally and releases in South Africa this month.

The 'interview' was pre -recorded with Cliff interviewing himself playing 'Jesus'.

Commented Nick Grubb, Programme Manager at 5fm, "We believe that the segment was inflammatory, and could have been interpreted negatively by a large portion of our listeners. Whilst Gareth is often irreverent and controversial, he merely overstepped the mark this time."

John Langford, 5fm's Station Manager added, "As a responsible broadcaster we simply cannot endorse any content that unnecessarily undermines the religious beliefs of our listeners."

Gareth Cliff will be off air on Thursday 11th and Friday 12th March and back on air on Monday 15th March for his afternoon drive time show.