Whilst you’d think someone would’ve learnt a thing or two from the controversy that unfolded back in February after a photo surfaced of two Victorian men donning blackface whilst attending a party in Ballarat, it seems we still can’t have nice things.

On Saturday night, the Frankston Bombers sports club hosted an ‘iPod Shuffle’ night, where attendees were encouraged to come dressed as famous musicians, which resulted in several of the football and netball club’s players showing up in blackface.

The club posted photos of such attendees on their official Instagram page, resulting in a barrage of criticism levelled at the club, including from Australian hip-hop star Briggs, who shared screenshots of the club’s photos before they were taken down.

“If these idiots spent more energy learning why it’s offensive rather than defending their right to be racist we’d be better off,” wrote Briggs, who later received an insulting voicemail message from someone believed to be associated with the club.

“A friend of mine had texted and let them [the Frankston Bombers] know, pretty eloquently, what an issue blackface is, because their number was listed on Facebook,” the rapper told The Age. The club’s alleged response was later posted to his Facebook page.

“I’m short and I’m fat and people take the piss all the time,” the voicemail said. “And we’re at a function where it’s called an iPod shuffle night and people come dressed as people and that’s what they f***ing do.”

“I kind of laughed [when I heard the voicemail response],” Briggs told The Age, “because it sounded funny superficially, but thinking about it now, it’s disappointing that this is their response.”

Speaking to News Corp, club president Chris Sharman tried to downplay the incident, saying, “There was nothing racist about Saturday’s event. We ran an iPod Shuffle Night where everyone dressed up as their favourite musicians.”

“For me personally, it’s annoying; you should know better,” Briggs told Fairfax. “There’s such an ignorance and it’s such an audacious thing to post it on your social media for everyone to see. The law of averages would have suggested someone in the club would have questioned putting it up [on Instagram].”

The club at the centre of the controversy have since issued what Briggs has labelled as a “piss-weak” apology, writing that they are “extremely regretful of the situation that has transpired over the last 24 hours”.

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“Our club is run by a group of local volunteers, who seek nothing more than to provide a supportive, well-intentioned and beneficial environment for local footballers and netballers and our aim as a club is to increase social cohesion amongst the community and not create division,” they add.

“We now understand that our actions at last night’s club event have caused offense and division and for this we apologise.” As the club comes under investigation by AFL South East, everyone from Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews to Briggs’ fellow rapper Remi have slammed the club and their actions.

“Why does this keep happening? Why is it that every time we say this is highly offensive to us, you turn around and say ‘Nah it’s not’ and do it again? You obviously don’t understand why it’s racist, but why don’t you try too [sic]?” Remi wrote on Facebook.

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