Kirin J Callinan has given his first TV interview following his court case over the flashing incident that took place on the ARIAs red carpet last year.
Last week, Callinan plead guilty to a charge of wilful and obscene exposure, which was dropped on the condition of a 12-month good behaviour bond.
In the interview, Callinan said that he regretted the decision, calling it a “very silly, spontaneous thing that happened.”
Callinan described the response he faced as “heartbreaking“, citing mainly the response from fellow artists:
I had no problem with certain sections of the media getting outraged, it was sections of my own community turning on me. Whether it was musicians or the queer community or from the arts community that I’ve been a part of and given a lot to for my whole life.
Callinan said that he wasn’t happy with how Miss Banks handled his removal from Laneway, but stuck by his position that she shouldn’t be attacked for expressing her opinion:
I’m not gonna lie, I wasn’t very happy that another artist had a go at me and went on the radio to do so, but by the same token, you know, she’s quite young and she has an opinion and that’s cool. Not everyone has to like me, there’s no issue there.
I didn’t like that then she was getting attacked for having an opinion, even if the opinion was misguided or had some of the facts wrong or whatever, that wasn’t what was important. And I think she was taken advantage of a bit as well, by the media that reached out to her for comment, by the festival not commenting and putting it on her shoulders in a bit of a way. It all got a bit messy.
Callinan maintains that it was blown out of proportion, and that the incident occurred within a private media area, briefly, and at the request of photographers who were familiar with his penchant for nudity.
You can view the full interview below:
It started with a raised kilt and ended with cancelled performances, police charges and court. We speak to singer @KirinJCallinan about regrets, reactions and defending other artist’s opinions. #TheProjectTV pic.twitter.com/eYhKeMG0AC
— The Project (@theprojecttv) February 28, 2018
