The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council declares Dire Straits’ ‘Money For Nothing’ unacceptable.
In 2010, a listener filed a complaint about Newfoundland radio station OZ FM playing the song; specifically about the appearance of the word “faggot” in the lyrics.
CBC reports that the complaint stated that “there is absolutely no valid reason for such discriminatory marks [sic] to be played on-air”.
On Wednesday the CBSC issued a ruling saying that airing the song breaches the human rights clauses of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters' Code of Ethics and Equitable Portrayal Code, as it “refers to sexual orientation in a derogatory way”.
The song has previously been accused of being sexist (for the line about getting “chicks for free”) and racist (for the line about “banging on the bongos like a chimpanzee”) but neither claims have resulted in a ban.
