A DJ on BBC Radio 1 has been temporarily suspended after being told to "have some respect" over a comment she made on a fellow presenter’s show.
On Saturday (July 29), DJ Arielle Free was briefly featured on Charlie Hedges’ Dance Anthems show, which was broadcast live from Ibiza.
In an audio recording of the interaction, Free and Hedges begin by greeting each other before their conversation soon took a strange turn.
"Hi, yeah I sound great, don’t I?", Free said, before explaining that she has a husky voice because she has been working on Friday night and Saturday. "Your voice just goes," she added.
Listen to the interaction below:Free then addressed Hedges and the choice of tunes she was playing on the radio show, stating: "Can I be honest with you Charlie? I expected better of you."
"What, as in to sound like you?", Hedges joked before Free responded by expressing her distaste for the electronic track the radio presenter was playing in the background, which was 'My Barn My Rules' by MCR-T and horsegiirL.
"I don’t like this song; I hate it," she simply said. When she continued to question the choice of song, Hedges eventually cut the volume to her microphone, saying: "Sorry, I’m taking your mic down, it’s my show, Arielle. Have some respect, please."
Hedges is then heard telling Free to "get out of here" as she presumably left the recording space.
On Tuesday (August 1), it was reported that Free had been "temporarily suspended" from her duties. According to Sky News, she is expected to return to hosting the network's early breakfast show next week.
Upon hearing this news, users have taken to their social media to share their thoughts on Free's temporary hiatus, with many arguing that the incident was "blown out of proportion".
One user wrote: "This is mad… talk about blown out of proportion! Heard this live and thought nothing of it, ridiculous to be taken off air for thinking a song is s*** (which it is) love @ariellefree get her back on the radio!!"
Another person said: "This is so stupid, are they meant to pretend they like every single song???"
A third person shared: "I generally don’t think she was rude she was just saying she didn’t like the song fair enough can’t all like it"
Meanwhile, one person agreed with the suspension and said: "This is so cringe from Arielle, at the end of the day it’s a huge privilege being a R1 DJ why would you embarrass yourself and the station like that."
A second user added: "You can't go on a national radio show and say you hate a song that's playing……regardless [whether] its rubbish or not! You make the DJ and the station look bad."
Per The Independent, BBC Radio 1 provided a statement about the bizarre incident, which read: "Whilst we would not comment on individual matters, we have strict codes of behavior for staff and presenters, and any breaches are taken extremely seriously."