Galway-born celebrity hairdresser James Brown has apologised for repeatedly calling a black TV presenter a 'n*****' at the TV Baftas.
Mr Brown, 41, who was born in Galway before moving to London in the 1970s, was in reality TV show Great British Hairdresser. The hairdresser, whose friends include Kate Moss and Lily Allen, directed the racist remark towards presenter Ben Douglas.
He also called his female companion a ‘n*****’s bitch’ at the gala bash on Sunday last week.
Mr Douglas had refrained from going public with the name of his adversary but this week Mr Brown came clean after succumbing to pressure on Twitter.
‘I’d like to make a public apology to Mr Douglas, to his friends and to Bafta for my offensive and stupid comments,’ he said in a statement.
‘The simple truth is that I had drunk far too much on the evening and my behaviour was totally unacceptable. Everyone who knows me knows I am not racist in any way whatsoever but this incident has shown me that my drinking is way out of control and I need to take urgent measures to deal with it.
‘I have been in touch with Mr Douglas and will be writing to him and to the Bafta organisers to apologise personally. I am very sorry and very embarrassed.’
Mr Douglas, the founder of the Fusion Academy performing arts school, said: ‘I accept his apology and I hope we can both move on.
‘He thought he was being cool and edgy and I explained to him that it was an attack. I hope some lessons can be learned.’
Bafta is investigating the incident at London’s Grosvenor House hotel.
It is the latest race row to emerge from the fashion industry.
Earlier this year, British designer John Galliano was sacked from Christian Dior after he made anti-Semitic remarks to two women in a bar in Paris.
