Robert Kelly, who was interrupted by his children during a live BBC interview, has said he was “uncomfortable” that people assumed his wife was a nanny.
The original video showed Kelly’s children wandering in during the BBC interview that was conducted at his home through a webcam. Shortly after his two children walk in, his wife pulls them back whilst Kelly continues the interview.
Kelly’s interview caused quite a stir after a number of people assumed his wife was the nanny of the children due to her ethnicity.
Guardian writer Vera Chok said that making the assumption that Jung-a Kim was a nanny reveals something disconcerting about our society.
“Unconscious bias or outright racist assumptions have real consequences,” writes Chok. “If we don’t consider certain people to be as human as we are, their happiness or wellbeing is less important to preserve. We get to treat them how we like or we stand by as they are treated badly”
“So, to those who assumed that Kim was the nanny, it’s worth thinking about what kind of woman you might have expected Kelly to be married to. Did people assume that the Asian woman in his home was the nanny because she seems to behave in a subservient way?”
Kelly has since been contacted by the BBC regarding the incident. In a second interview posted to the BBC News’ YouTube channel, the Kelly is seen sitting next to his wife and children as the presenter asks him questions.
“Everybody we know seems to think [the video] is pretty hysterical,” says Kelly. “We laughed a lot”, added Jung-a.
Kelly admits that the couple were worried that the BBC would never call them again as they feared they had “completely blown [their] relationship with [the BBC]”.
When asked if he was “stung by the suggestion that Jung-a was the nanny and not [his] wife”, Kelly responded, “we were pretty uncomfortable with it.”
His wife added, “I hope people just enjoy it, not argue over it. Because I’m not the nanny, that’s the truth, so I hope they stop doing the arguing”.
