 Deaker fell into his own bunker of controversy in 2011, with a racially sensitive slur in reference to a colleague.Despite the NZ Race Relations Commissioner describing the turn of phrase as "Not appropriate" and a weight of public outrage reminiscent of fellow broadcaster Paul Holmes' "Cheaky Darkie" saga and Paul Henry's derogatory comment about an Indian Diplomat with the surname "Dikshit", Deaker's network described the phrase as "widely used".Deaker later apologised, stating "It was a bad choice of words and I apologise unreservedly".