Apology from councillor after photo showing Turner, Cosby posted on social media

Councillor apologizes for controversial post An Edmonton City Councillor is apologizing about a controversial illustration posted to Facebook.

Edmonton City Councillor Mike Nickel has apologized after a controversial illustration was posted on the Facebook page for his online show and sparked a backlash.

‘To the Point’ is described as a satirical current affairs show, hosted by Ward 11 Councillor Mike Nickel – but an apparent attempt at a joke hit a sour note with many followers.

Over the weekend, an image depicting former Stanford swimmer, and convicted rapist Brock Turner, appearing to stand over a sleeping Snow White, with a smaller image of accused rapist, comedian Bill Cosby was posted on the Facebook page for ‘To the Point’.

Many were outraged at the image, saying it promoted rape culture.

“The first way to be part of the solution and not the problem, is to resist making rape jokes, to resist being inflammatory just for click bait,” Cristina Stasia, Gender Equality Consultant, said.

Stasia said the contents of the post are made worse as it’s connected to Nickel.

“As a leader you have a responsibility to be educated about these issues, and intervene in these toxic cultures,” Stasia said.

A former panelist on ‘To the Point’ said this isn’t the first time the show has tried to push the envelope on comedy – he said the show’s producers were trying to be more edgy.

“There was a big push and a desire, and I get it, to try and be edgy and really controversial and get people talking about the show, have some buzz,” Daniel St. Pierre said. “I think what it translated to in the execution though is some clumsy jokes and things that I don’t think are in good taste.”

Nickel agreed, and said the post went too far. He said he wasn’t aware of the image until after it was posted and sponsored on the page – which means the individuals behind the particular page paid to reach more followers.

“This is just unacceptable, I’m appalled, all I can do is just take responsibility,” Nickel said.

Now, the future of the show is unclear – Nickel said it had been put on hold until further notice. The show had been on hiatus for six months, and a statement released online said that until fresh content was released, page moderators had decided to post satirical memes, a plan that was put in motion last week.

A post on Facebook by the producer of the show, Matthew Altheim, apologized for posting the photo.

It is not clear who posted the image online.

The show posted an apology on the Facebook page late Monday – but the page appeared to have been taken down later in the day.

With files from Shanelle Kaul