FreeNow pulls sponsorship of Tommy Tiernan show after 'unacceptable' joke

 Tommy Tiernan pictured at the Pálás Cinema Galway screening of Tommy Tiernan's Epic West. Picture: Coalesce

Taxi company FreeNow has ended its sponsorship deal with RTÉ for The Tommy Tiernan Show in the wake of an offensive joke he made during a recent gig.

His fellow RTÉ presenter Emer O'Neill walked out of one of the comedian's Vicar Street shows after he made a joke that she described as racist and offensive.

The comedian has since removed the joke from his set and contacted O'Neill personally to apologise, acknowledging that the joke was offensive.

The joke in question made reference to taxi drivers in Dublin Zoo and FreeNow, who sponsored the comedian's Saturday night show on RTÉ, have now responded.

Today Presenter Emer O’Neill at RTÉ's new season launch. Picture Andres Poveda

In a statement, they said: "As a recent sponsor of The Tommy Tiernan Show on RTÉ, we were disappointed about the comments made at his Vicar Street gig regarding taxi drivers. 

"FREE NOW works in close partnership with taxi drivers throughout the country to provide an important transport service for passengers across Ireland. Prejudice of any kind towards taxi drivers is unacceptable. 

"We decided to conclude our sponsorship of the show last week but will continue to work with RTÉ on other projects going forward."