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Ford sorry for oral sex slur

TORONTO — In the space of just a few hours Thursday, Rob Ford spouted an obscenity on live TV, refused to apologize then did apologize, was scolded by Canada’s oldest football team for wearing its jersey while making the remarks, and begged the media to give his family privacy — his seldom-seen-in-public wife by his side.

TORONTO — In the space of just a few hours Thursday, Rob Ford spouted an obscenity on live TV, refused to apologize then did apologize, was scolded by Canada’s oldest football team for wearing its jersey while making the remarks, and begged the media to give his family privacy — his seldom-seen-in-public wife by his side.

The latest bizarreness involving Toronto’s besieged mayor set off another chorus of demands by politicians for him to leave — not just get help, but to resign for the good of the city.

Ford stubbornly refused to do so, and the province’s premier said she would step in only if the council falls apart completely.

The dizzying cascade of events began as Ford arrived at city hall — sporting a blue No. 12 Toronto Argonauts uniform with ’Mayor Ford’ in white letters on the back.

As TV cameras broadcast live, Ford used crude language to deny allegations he told a female aide he was going to have oral sex with her. A staffer told police Ford also said he had already had sex with the aide, court documents say.

“It says that I wanted to eat her p----,” Ford said.

“I’ve never said that in my life to her, I would never do that,” Ford said to astonished reporters.

“I’m happily married. I’ve got more than enough to eat at home.”

Ford, 44, the father of two children, did say he was receiving support from a team of health-care professionals but refused to elaborate.

Coun. Denzil Minnan-Wong, who sponsored a motion Wednesday urging Ford to take a leave of absence, called the mayor’s language “completely unacceptable” and said it was high time he resigned.

“He used the P-word in a very derogatory way,” Minnan-Wong said.

“The mayor of our city should not be using language like that, he shouldn’t be speaking about women like that.”

Initially, Ford stood by his vulgar comments.

“If you’re offended, I’m not apologizing, because put yourself in my shoes if someone said that about your husband or your wife,” he shouted during a council session.

According to sections of court documents released Wednesday, an ex-staffer told police an intoxicated Ford made the comments at a downtown restaurant on St. Patrick’s Day last year.

The alleged incident was one of several in the document that reported questionable or bizarre behaviour by Ford: driving after guzzling vodka, sniffing cocaine, and apparently consorting with sex workers.

Ford called the allegations outright lies.

Just hours later, with his wife Renata nearby, the mayor apologized for what he called his impulsive and “graphic” remarks blamed on months of mostly self-inflicted stress, culminating in the latest revelations he said pushed him over the line.

“When you attack my integrity as a father and as a husband, I see red,” he said.

As media trailed her into the city hall basement, Renata Ford came to his defence, saying he did not need to step down, because “that’s why we have elections.”

The mayor, who has admitted to smoking crack cocaine and being in drunken stupors in public, railed against suggestions he had taken a woman suspected to be a prostitute to city hall.

He also denied his company at the restaurant was a paid escort named Alana.

“I don’t appreciate people calling Alana a prostitute,” said Ford, who called her a friend.

“I can’t put up with it any more. Litigation will be starting shortly.”

Ford named three former staffers: chief of staff Mark Towhey, special assistant Isaac Ransom, and spokesman George Christopoulos.

He also said he would sue a waiter who — according to the documents — told police he saw Ford and a woman snorting cocaine in a restaurant backroom.

Noted libel lawyer Julian Porter said a defamation suit would have little chance of success because people are protected when they talk to police, as long as they don’t maliciously invent anything.