Newman stunt still riles AFL clubs
- Published by David Knox
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- Filed under News
This is becoming a story that won’t go away. Female AFL figures have written to the Nine Network slamming a Footy Show skit by Sam Newman earlier this month, in which he dressed and ridiculed a mannequin as Age sports journalist and Nine identity Caroline Wilson.
The stunt attracted a flood of complaints from viewers and moved a group of female footy identities to write to Nine Network chief David Gyngell, with a copy of the letter sent to AFL boss Andrew Demetriou.
The signatories include AFL club board members Sally Capp (Collingwood), Beverly Knight (Essendon) and Peggy Haines (Richmond) claims the Herald Sun.
Using a staple gun, Newman fastened a picture of Wilson to the mannequin’s head. The dummy was clothed in a satin bra and underpants.
“I tell you what, she’s a fair piece, Caro,” he said over the chosen soundtrack, She’s a Lady by Tom Jones.
“For 15 years I’ve been doing what people might call parody or satire on men and women,” Newman said. “Women make up more than half the population — I’m not sure why they should be excluded.”
Wilson, a regular on Footy Classified, later described the stunt as degrading, humiliating and insulting.
A Nine Network spokeswoman confirmed chief executive David Gyngell had received the letter. “He has replied to the letter dealing with the matters raised,” she said.
But Newman said he had not been contacted by the network over the issue, and was not sorry.
“What would I be apologising for?” Newman asked. “This was not a gender thing, it was not meant to degrade anyone or anything.
“I’m yet to understand what’s insulting about putting clothes on a mannequin.”
But therein lays the problem, Sam. It’s about a thing called context. All that good work you did for men’s health this year is so easily erased with the return of your humour, it seems.
Source: Herald Sun
3 Responses
It appears the human dree doesn’t understand labour market analysis either.
Caroline Wilson has won the Australian Football Media Association’s most outstanding football writer and most outstanding feature writer (2000, 2003, 2005). And she was awarded the AFL Players Association inaugural media award in 1999. You don’t get those for “not getting the game” or “sensationalist articles”.
Couldn’t have said it better the_human_dree, there was nothing wrong with that skit. Wilson needs to learn how to cop it, coz she can dish it out really well. eg. The Ben Holland article.
Plus, the only reason why she gets picked on, on Footy Classifieds is that her sensationalist articles have so many flaws in them.
David,
Let’s ignore the human dree shall we?
I stopped watching the Footy Show a dozen years ago. As Newman said in the youtube clip, they’ve been doing this sort of thing for 15 years. The show is blokey rubbish that shouldn’t be on air.
1) Wilson is one of the best footy journos in the country.
2) Lyon should have known better, and stopped the skit before it went anywhere.
3) If not Lyon, someone (a producer) at 9 should have had respect for one of 9’s other on-air personalities (ie Wilson) and pulled the pin on the skit.
4) Wilson gets treated appallingly on Footy Classified by both Lyon and Hutchison. I don’t know how she survives.
Frankly, Newman is an embarrassment, and the sooner 9 release him, the better the show will be.