Sam Newman’s Awkward-As-Hell Spot On ‘The Footy Show’ Is Spinning Ppl Out

Viewers of last night’s The Footy Show noticed that host and longtime crank Sam Newman seemed a bit off – almost as if he had recently come under fire for hurling some deeply regressive and transphobic comments on the program.
Punters pretty quickly cottoned on to the fact the presenter was a little less vocal on a number of issues than usual, which lead to some speculation that he had either been gagged by producers on a few topics, or that he intended to demonstrate what the show would evolve into without his presence. 

Newman, who usually would have jumped at the chance to run his mouth about the recent resignations of two high-ranking AFL chiefs over inappropriate relationships with staff, stayed mum while Dave Hughes riffed all over it. 

Similarly, co-panellist Rebecca Maddern’s question over whether Collingwood head honcho Eddie McGuire should step down was met with a weirdly conservative response. Newman said it was the kind of talk that could have someone “taken aside and spoken to, step over some imaginary line in the sand.

“So I don’t think I would like to make a comment on any of that.”
Cop this footage from a lil’ later, where a young battler who admitted his adoration for Newman was invited on stage. Co-panellist Craig Hutchinson issued a lil’ snark Newman’s way, saying “we might actually need someone to do Mailbag, the way things are going.”

This morning, that behaviour made a bit more sense thanks to some claims by entertainment reporter Peter Ford. In an interview with 3AW, Ford reckoned that The Footy Show’s producers are moving to replace him by the year’s end.

Ford speculated that Newman chucked that on-air reaction was a response to Channel 9 trying to “rein him in”.  
We’ll just have to wait and see on how that one pans out, but the vibe from viewers is that shit is definitely going down:


Fans of his regularly-scheduled bluster were disappointed:

 


But at least one viewer was kinda relieved:

Source: Sydney Morning Herald / News.com.au.
Photo: The Footy Show / Facebook.

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