FHM rape joke writers officially axed

FHM South Africa has officially dismissed Maxim Barashenkov and Montle Moorosi, the two writers who sparked social media outrage after posting corrective and date rape jokes on Facebook.

The magazine officially announced the two writers’ axing today, following a disciplinary hearing this morning.

Memeburn had been made aware that Barashenkov was dismissed earlier today, but at that stage it had not been confirmed by FHM.

While the publication provided no further comment on the actions of its now former staffers, it did send out a tweet this morning saying that it did not “request nor sanction” the apology issued by the two yesterday.

In the apology, posted to a blog apparently set up specifically for it, Barashenkov and Moorosi acknowledged that their actions were wrong, saying “there is little excuse for our words and the careless manner in which they were delivered”.

They also however attempted to tackle the issue of the Twitter outrage they faced, asking whether “the zealous and public crusaders for justice” tweeted as violently during actual rape cases, going on to argue that 95% of the people who expressed outrage “did nothing” in those scenarios.

Read the full FHM statement below:

FHM would like to announce that following a disciplinary hearing held on Friday the 19th July 2013, presided over by an independent chairperson, former FHM employees Maxim Barashenkov and Montle Moorosi have been dismissed with immediate effect.