Kvartal 95 aired rerun of last year’s New Year’s episode, where they joked about murdered Farion: studio apologized after publicity
The Kvartal 95 studio aired last year's New Year's Eve episode on 1+1 TV channel, which included a joke about the linguist and public figure Iryna Farion, who was murdered in July 2024. The studio later apologised for broadcasting the "archived episode".
This was reported by Censor.NET.
The sketch of Kvartal 95 looked as if the artists continued to ridicule Farion even after her death.
In the story, parents discuss their son's girlfriend, a TikTok blogger, and wonder what she does.
At this point, the father says a line: "If Arestovych and Farion were together, this would be their daughter."
Reaction of the daughter of the murdered Iryna Farion
Iryna Farion's daughter Sofia Semchyshyn recalled that her mother was "killed for the Ukrainian language, for the Ukrainian position" and called for an apology.
Kvartal 95's joke about the deceased Iryna Farion outraged society
The leader of All-Ukrainian Union "Freedom" Oleh Tiahnybok, said that one can have political opponents, criticise and even make fun of them, but what Kvartal 95 "did" was "absolutely beyond the limits of morality and humanity".
Tiahnybok added that Farion's daughter's lawyer has already sent a statement to the highest legislative, executive and judicial authorities demanding that the perpetrators be punished, apologised and that "all mocking materials" about the deceased be removed from the public space.
What does 1+1 channel say?
The channel apologized to those who were offended by the "inappropriate joke" about Iryna Farion. They noted that the episode, which was broadcast on December 29, was one of the oldest.
"Unfortunately, a mistake was made, and a joke that should not have been aired remained in the programme. Making jokes about a person who has tragically died is absolutely unacceptable under any circumstances, even if it is an old episode," the TV channel said.
They promised to conduct thorough checks of archival materials and take measures to prevent similar situations.
"Kvartal 95 publishes apology to Farion's family
On the afternoon of 31 December, following the online publicity, Kvartal 95 published an explanation of why the joke about Iryna Farion was aired and apologised to her family, friends and everyone who was offended by the joke.
The studio stressed that the programme was archival, and "unfortunately, it contained a joke that should not have been aired". "Kvartal called the situation "absolutely unacceptable".
