Public broadcaster apologises for ‘k**wijf’ comment from rattled subtitler

Dutch public broadcaster NPO1 has apologised for a rattled member of the subtitling staff who vented his frustration at a fast-talking guest by telling her to ‘talk less fast, you stupid cow’- via the subtitles.

The OP1 interview, with 20 year-old musician Lucie Horsch who had just been engaged as a soloist by the Concertgebouw orchestra, was broadcast live and subtitled simultaneously via the broadcaster’s 888 teletext service.

Horsch talked so fast that the subtitler couldn’t keep up and resorted to insult after initially writing down what she was saying in the normal way.

The broadcaster said it was mortified by the incident. ‘We apologise for the hurtful remark which was caused by human error,’ an NPO1 spokesman said.

The member of staff was ‘spoken to’ and the broadcaster will contact Horsch to apologise to her as well. Horsch has not commented on the event.

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