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Two podcasters who were reported to police after a series of offensive tweets have resigned.
Ian Hogg and Cammy Bell, management team members of the Heart and Hand Podcast, were reported by a whistleblower after the site was made an Official Media Partner at Rangers.
They handed in their resignations 24 hours after Rangers were made aware of a police investigation, which remains ongoing.
Heart and Hand founder David Edgar was also subject to complaint but has defiantly refused to quit after talks with Rangers.
The police probe was revealed in the Daily Record after the whistleblower sent us a copy of the file received by police.
Rangers have yet to comment.
On Twitter, David Edgar announced that his friends had resigned and said he was ‘gutted’.
He said: “Having discussed the agenda driven “story” by the Daily Record, I am gutted to announce that Cammy and Hoggy have decided to step down from our podcast in the interests of their family and personal lives.
“They apologise for any offence caused and wish us all the very best for the future.
“It is clear that as Rangers improve on and off the field, those politicians and commentators who despise us, will use every means to discredit our beloved club. I, on the other hand, am going nowhere.”
Examples of the tweets being probed can be viewed in the gallery below
In a statement Ian Hogg said: “With regard to the newspaper article of historic tweets across a number of years I acknowledge that certain language and terminology have been used that is clearly unacceptable and sincerely apologise.
“The only excuse I can make is that from a place of immaturity, stupidity and without intended malice.
“However that is no excuse – the fault is mine and I need to rebuild the trust that others have had in me.
“I need to be better. With immediate effect I will be stepping back from Heart and Hand.”
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Cammy Bell said: “Today I have taken the decision to step down from Heart and Hand due to unacceptable language in previous tweets from my social media account which, upon reflection, were both offensive and immature.
“For this I accept unequivocal responsibility and I extend my sincere apologies to anyone this may have upset.
“I have let myself and others down and I hope I can rebuild the faith people had in me.
“I’ll use this opportunity to grow and learn as a person. I am devastated beyond belief with regards the last 24 hours have had on myself and my wife and I thank everyone for their support and understanding at this time.”
Over a period of several years and as recently as last December, Bell used terms like tarrier, Papist, beggar and bead rattler to describe Catholics and celtic fans – all highly offensive labels.
In a tweet from July 2017, Cammy Bell abuses former Rangers captain Barry Ferguson, whose wife is a Catholic.
Bell, using the handle @Beatthatbeat, wrote: “Barry Ferguson continues to sully himself by mixing with tarriers.”
Ian Hogg refers to a Twitter user he has a disagreement with, tweeting: “This c*** deserves a*** raped by someone with HIV.”
And David Edgar has made several references to “beggars” and “gypsies”, as well as mocking children with special needs.
Anti discrimination group Show Racism The Red Card earlier welcomed a police probe into a torrent of discriminatory tweets from new media partners of Rangers.
A spokesperson for Show Racism the Red Card said: “The language used in these messages is harmful as they are religiously and racially motivated.
“They sadly mirror what many of Scotland’s Irish and Catholic communities continue to experience.
“We welcome Police Scotland’s involvement and Rangers Football Club’s swift and decisive action following recent incidents.”
Despite speaking strongly in recent days to bolster the importance of its Everyone Anyone initiative, which seeks to eliminate discrimination, Rangers FC has so far remained quiet on the status of its new media partners.
BBC football pundit Michael Stewart, who has consistently spoken out about sectarianism, urged Rangers to move quickly to address the issue.
He tweeted: “The latest story of racism and general unacceptable behaviour connected with Rangers shows this isn’t some fringe element.
“Official Media Partners with access to the top of the club involved. The club has a serious amount of work to do to weed out this mentality.
“Who is actually going to be at the next press conference if the mainstream don’t have access and the ‘official media partners’ are being investigated by the police? It’s all an incredible state of affairs for Rangers to put themselves in.
“The defending of the indefensible and deflection going on right now by many Rangers fans shows how big the problem really is. Rangers ’official media partner’ is being investigated by the police but is online attacking all sorts of people. Are Rangers going to stay silent?”
The Record’s story yesterday told how Rangers PR chief David Graham, listed as a team member at the Heart and Hand podcast, is good friends with the three men in the spotlight.
After Graham was appointed to Rangers, David Edgar boasted that he “discovered” the Irishman, a prominent figure in the Orange Order.
Police Scotland was sent more than 100 allegedly offensive tweets and many would be too obscene to print.
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