Sam Newman, bloody hell.
The 71-year-old man inexplicably forgiven more times than any person rightfully should remains well and truly on his own shit.
Newman’s latest “episode” – for which he has felt no consequences beyond people being mad at him even though he continues to flaunt a staggeringly unethical and irresponsible personal code of media conduct –
involved some remarkably transphobic comments directed at
Caitlyn Jenner, for whatever reason.
On last night’s instalment of Channel Nine’s living dinosaur ‘The Footy Show,’ Newman began the show by apologising for his remarks. It wasn’t a great apology, but it’s as good as we’ll ever get out of the man literally nicknamed ‘Fossil.’
If he’d left it at that, the show’s archaic nonsense could’ve continued unimpeded for another few months before he says something stupid again.
Instead, Newman took issue with Patrick Dangerfield; the Geelong Cats gun midfielder who, in the middle of this latest Newman-related furore, lambasted Newman while appearing on KIIS FM. At the time, Dangerfield labelled Sam “irrelevant,” and asserted that the only good part of the show itself was host Rebecca Maddern.
“The show itself, apart from Bec, who is wonderful, I haven’t watched it for a while now and I just think Sam was well off the mark and well out of line. It’s been a history. It’s been something that has been happening for such a long period of time and they will continue to run with it because it will continue to rate.”
Newman took umbrage with that in an extraordinary rant at Dangerfield on the show last night, daring the star Cat to, essentially, “say it to my face.”
“If you want to have a go at me or say something to me, come and sit on that desk there and do it to my face.”
“Pat, please, if you’re going to have a go at me for not understanding the era of political correctness we live in, don’t call me old. I don’t mind if you call me old but that is an ageist comment and it reflects badly on people in the workforce who are my age.”
“You said the only person you watch the show for is this woman here (Maddern). That is sexist in itself.”
“Let’s be consistent, instead of coming on here like a perfume dwarf and thinking that if you act like a ventriloquist’s dummy that will cut the mustard here, it won’t.”
Christ alive.
First off, Newman lecturing anyone on issues of sexism is a remarkable joke. Particularly when he does it mere moments after asserting that he doesn’t “understand the era of political correctness that we live in.”
The man is a relic. A waste of airtime. A dusty, sun-faded portrait hanging in a renovated building that no one can get rid of because it’s screwed into the wall.
The flailing ‘Footy Show‘ is suffering dearly because it refuses to evolve. Channel Seven‘s ratings win with ‘The Front Bar‘ is testament to that.
Newman’s run on TV is unparalleled and completely despite itself. But in a rapidly changing media world it’s adapt or die. And if you refuse to do one thing, your forcing your own hand.
Photo: The Footy Show.
