GAA pundit and barrister Joe Brolly has broken his silence on a controversial video which depicted him simulating a crude sex act, describing his behaviour as “childish” and “inappropriate”.
The video, which has since been deleted due to significant backlash, was originally posted on Brolly’s “Free State” podcast with co-host Dion Fanning.
Speaking about the implosion of Jim Gavin’s presidential campaign, Brolly said Gavin was “not the sort” for that kind of political setting, comparing it to a “nasty Rose of Tralee”, and adding “Now we have the Longford Rose”.
He compared Gavin’s campaign to a Rose of Tralee who said she was a devout Catholic, but who had been caught upstairs in a bar doing “reverse cowgirl” – a sexual position.
He then proceeded to simulate giving oral sex to a man while answering questions commonly asked of Presidential candidates.
The video, which has been viewed almost a million times on X alone, received significant backlash and criticism, with Fine Gael Presidential candidate Heather Humphreys dubbing it “mysogynistic”.
In a follow-up post, Brolly described his own behaviour as “childish” and “in poor taste”.
“During the podcast I made a childish, crude and inappropriate gesture to Dion,” he said.
“The gesture – as is clear from the audio – had nothing whatsoever to do with the presidential candidates. It was making fun of the stock questions and responses that happen in a presidential campaign.”
He added: “I am very proud of Free State and the production team. My action was in poor taste and should never have happened.”
Speaking on South East Radio’s Morning Mix with Alan Corcoran, Humphreys described Brolly’s actions as “abuse”.
“People can make up their own minds on this, but look, I’m a strong woman, and I can tell you one thing, I’m not going to let this set me back,” she said.
“And it was a misogynistic deed. And you know, women across the country have to deal with this type of abuse. But I stand up for mná na hÉireann, and won’t let this knock me back.”
She added that Brolly “doesn’t deserve to be talked about, as far as I’m concerned…I don’t want to dignify it with a further response.”
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