Gaffe of the Week: BBC airs ‘Hey Joe’ right after Pistorius story

The BBC is apologizing this week after one of its radio stations followed a report about the Oscar Pistorius trial with the Jimi Hendrix song "Hey Joe" — a song about a man shooting his girlfriend.

Pistorius, the South African double-amputee known as "Blade Runner" because of his carbon fibre racing legs, is on trial for fatally shooting his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine's Day. Pistorius is the first-ever disabled runner to have competed in the Olympic Games.

The BBC is apologizing because of the words to the song:

The song, first recorded by The Leaves, has become a rock standard and most famously recorded by the Jimi Hendrix Experience in 1966.

[ Last week's gaffe: University misspells school name on swag ]

"In light of the nature of the news story, we apologize for any offence caused by the proximity of the song 'Hey Joe' to the bulletin," a BBC spokesperson said. "An on-air apology was made immediately [after] the mistake was realised."

Pistorius's defence team has argued that the track star thought there was an intruder in his house when he shot Steenkamp through the bathroom door of his home.

For some seriously bad musical timing, the BBC is awarded this week's Gaffe of the Week, commemorated with a picture of Rob Ford in butter.

Gaffe of the Week appears each Thursday
On Yahoo! Canada News.