‘Spell it right’: Star’s swipe at racists

Emma Kirk Published March 22, 2025 at 7.00am (AWST)

racism

Popular indigenous TV presenter Tony Armstrong has taken a swipe at racist social media attacks, in a new comedy sketch he has shared online. (Image: The Australian)

Indigenous TV presenter Tony Armstrong has hit back at "ignorant" online racists in a new comedy sketch, featuring a fictional app to help them spell their "venomous words" correctly.

"Furore" is the name of a spell check app aimed at "keeping racists safe online" by helping them spell and use grammar correctly, before they share their hatred on social media.

"If you reckon another culture or race is inferior, the least you could do is convey that belief through the bare minimum grammatical standards of the colonial language that you're using," Armstrong says in the video.

Tony Armstrong has taken a swipe at racist social media rants that are often misspelt. Picture: Supplied — Tony Armstrong has taken a swipe at racist social media rants that are often misspelt. (Image: Supplied)

The video says the app is "guaranteed to save racists from all kinds of digital faux pas."

"The dictionary is in-built into all of our devices so to misuse English, that's a choice, it's kind of ignorant," Armstrong says.

"I would love to live in an Australia where I don't experience targeted online racism, but with that seemingly out of reach, I would at least like these venomous words to be spelled correctly."

The popular presenter has shown off a fictional app to 'help' racists get the spelling and grammar right. Picture" Instagram — The popular presenter has shown off a fictional app to 'help' racists get the spelling and grammar right. (Image: Instagram)

Armstrong produced the video with comedy director and co-writer Henry Stone.

"Hey racists, we've tried to make sure you feel represented in this video. If not we'll try again in the next one. F. k racism," Armstrong shared on social media.

Armstrong is no stranger to online attacks. He has previously shared posts from trolls on social media.

In 2022, he shared an email he received at work, commenting, "This s. t has gotta stop. One thing is for certain though, this isn't guna stop us speaking up or stepping up. Sent to my work email, no less."

This shit has gotta stop. One thing is for certain though, this isn't guna stop us speaking up or stepping up. Sent to my work email, no less. pic.twitter.com/WAm7sVrn4F
— Tony Armstrong (@Tonaaayy_) November 1, 2022