Christian protestors gathered outside Network 10’s Pyrmont office on Saturday, as reports emerge that a number of The Project staff have received threats following a Jesus joke made on the show.
A crowd of around 100-200 people gathered outside the network on Saturday morning holding placards with Jesus’s face on them. The protestors were largely peaceful, with the crowd joining in prayer.
The biggest drama of the event was when veteran religious campaigner Fred Nile collapsed shortly after giving his speech at the demonstration. The New South Wales Legislative Council was put in the recovery position before an ambulance came to collect him.
Despite the peaceful nature of the event, there were a number of police present as talks of threats to Project 10 staff emerge.
According to reports, a number of The Project staff have received threats following the Jesus joke made on a pride-themed episode on last month’s episode of the show.
Christian groups have been protesting against the network, following outrage by the broadcaster after a comedian made an ‘offensive’ Jesus joke on The Project last month.
On the episode, comedian Reuben Kaye was speaking about homophobia when he said: ‘I love Jesus. I love any man who can get nailed for three days straight and come back for more!’
An apology was issued on The Project on 1 March 2023.
The protests follow a bizarre “open letter” sent to Australia’s leading CMOs, advertisers, and media press calling for Network 10 to be boycotted following the joke.
Sent by email to Grant Blackley (CEO at Southern Cross) and Beverley McGarvey (chief content editor Paramount), the letter had the subject line “Open letter to Network 10 advertisers – viewer boycott”.
The email sender seemed well informed of the whos-who in the industry, with many of Australia’s most influential CMOs and advertising leaders copied in.
The sender went on to say that they were “shocked” to hear the “joke” about Jesus Christ on The Project recently, especially when “families are watching the show”.
In response, the unhappy viewer had “deleted Chanel 10” from their TV settings and have said that many of their Christian and Muslim friends have done the same.
They said this should serve of a warning to the media, in making “hateful” comments to people of any faith.
A spokesperson from Network 10 said they recognise the rights of people to express their opinions respectfully:“Network 10 would like to thank NSW Police for the way in which they handled today’s protest at Pyrmont.”
