Hosts and viewers alike were left gobsmacked after a celebrity guest made a distasteful “joke” about domestic violence during his appearance on the show.
Actor Peter O’Brien, who was joined by his wife of 18 years Miranda Otto, made the off-colour comment while discussing the new SBS series Unusual Suspects, in which both actors star.
Asked what it was like to work alongside his wife by The Project host Carrie Bickmore, O’Brien replied: “Basically, my interaction in this show with Miranda is sex and violence, so it was like a night in.”
While the shocking comment elicited a laugh from The Project panel, Waleed Aly soon stepped in to voice his concerns over the dark quip.
“I can’t tell if we’re meant to laugh at that or not?” Aly asked.
Carrie added: “I’m not sure you can say that.”
Peter Helliar then chimed in: “Miranda, you need to respond for us to clear this!”
Attempting to put the fire of her husband’s comments out, Miranda replied: “We have an antagonistic relationship in the show, so that’s a lot of fun. We don’t do boring married couple stuff together.”
O’Brien added: “People tend not to cast us as married couples – I guess it’s unbelievable.”
“We’ve done a few things together, and it’s a real joy. I love working with Miranda – it’s never caused any friction or anything … Did I mention the sex and violence?”
“That was a rollercoaster ride,” said Bickmore.
Not surprisingly, O’Brien’s comments didn’t go well with social media, with viewers taking to Twitter to blast the idea of making jokes about domestic violence.
“NO it is NOT ok for the whole panel to laugh at a bad taste joke about sex and violence,” one enraged user commented.
“What were you thinking? Waleed was the only one who even half-heartedly questioned if it was something to laugh at. Unbelievable!!!!”
https://twitter.com/AydenDawkins/status/1399296990387703808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1399296990387703808%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.news.com.au%2Fentertainment%2Ftv%2Fcurrent-affairs%2Fproject-hosts-shocked-over-celeb-guests-domestic-violence-joke-im-not-sure-you-can-say-that%2Fnews-story%2Fb583627d65bd4d73c68f87e87c354ffe
Others, however, were more focused on the married couple’s banter between one another, with one user saying: “They’re so cute and the way Miranda just lean on him the whole time.”
“How is this the first time I hear POB speak? He is hysterical I love him,” wrote another.
“Married couple goals,” another added.
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