Egyptian comedian Bassem Youssef taken off air after satire draws fire
CBC announced the programme by Bassem Youssef, often compared to US comedian Jon Stewart, would not be shown because the satirist and his producer violated its editorial policies. The announcement came just minutes before Youssef's show El-Bernameg, or "The Programme" in Arabic, was to air Friday night.
A private Egyptian TV station stopped the airing of the latest episode of a widely popular political satire programme after it came under fire for mocking the ultranationalist, pro-military fervour gripping the country.
CBC announced the programme by Bassem Youssef, often compared to US comedian Jon Stewart, would not be shown because the satirist and his producer violated its editorial policies. The announcement came just minutes before Youssef's show El-Bernameg, or "The Programme" in Arabic, was to air Friday night.
A statement issued by the station's board of directors said that Youssef and the producer "insist on continuing to not commit to the editorial policy" of CBC, as required by their contracts.
The pre-recorded weekly programme returned to air last week after a four-month hiatus that happened as Egypt's military toppled Islamist president Mohammed Mursi after massive protests against his government. Youssef often mocked Mursi on the programme, galvanising public disenchantment with the leader.
His show last week strongly mocked the military fever now gripping Egypt, and poked fun at military chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Military supporters immediately filed legal complaints against the show.