Swedish Radio P3 host’s remark on Agnes Wold called inappropriate but not serious

A senior host at Swedish Radio’s P3 channel called professor Agnes Wold a “psychopath” who should be “locked up” during a live broadcast Wednesday, though the station’s head dismissed the comment as a joke while acknowledging it may have been ill-advised.

Christopher Garplind, a prominent voice on the youth-oriented public radio channel, made the remark in Eftermiddag i P3 after Wold stated in media interviews that she would do “everything” to reverse a grandchild’s gender identity if they expressed discomfort with their assigned sex. His comment—“Lock up the old lady, she’s a psychopath”—spread widely online despite his immediate clarification that it was meant in jest.

Dejan Cokorilo, head of P3, told public broadcaster SVT that Garplind’s tone was clearly satirical but conceded the phrasing could be seen as inappropriate. The exchange follows public debate over Sweden’s upcoming ban on conversion practices targeting sexual orientation or gender identity, set to take effect 1 July with penalties of up to four years in prison.