Charlie Sloth to leave Radio 1 immediately, following ARIAs stage invasion

New presenters for his shows The 8th and The Rap Game will be announced soon

Jack Shepherd
Sunday 21 October 2018 11:11 BST
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Charlie Sloth's final 10 BBC radio shows have been cancelled, following his stage invasion earlier this week at the Audio And Radio Industry Awards (ARIAs).

The DJ had previously announced that he would be stepping down from his Radio 1 and 1Xtra shows, but was not expected to leave the corporation for a further few weeks.

Sloth caused controversy at the ARIAs by interrupting Edith Bowman's acceptance speech for best specialist music show, a category he was also nominated for.

Edith Bowman, f**k your life,” he told the audience, channelling his inner Kanye West. “I just wanna say BBC Radio 1, 1Xtra, Saturday night Rap Show. F**k your life. God bless.”

Later that evening, Radio 1 and 1Xtra Controller Ben Cooper told those in attendance, according to Huffington Post: “I’d just like to say Charlie Sloth has left the building and is leaving Radio 1 & 1Xtra. Apologies.”

The following day, Bowman responded with a Tweet, reading: Morning Charlie Sloth, hope you are feeling ok this morning." Sloth responded by writing: Soooo the ARIAs... It was supposed to be a bit of bants with me jumping on stage, starting with me saying “ok i'ma let you finish”. It wasn’t directed at Edith, I love Edith and like I said so does my Mum. I’ve apologised to Edith privately, I'm sorry to anyone I upset."

The BBC has since confirmed that Sloth will not be presenting any further editions of his shows The 8th and The Rap Show, and that new presenters will be announced in the coming weeks.

Sloth also addressed the news on Twitter, writing: "I’ve decided not do the remaining 10 shows on the BBC that I initially agreed. I love you all. Thank you."

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