Sydney radio shock jock Alan Jones has walked back his incendiary on-air attack on Sydney Opera House boss Louise Herron, saying he regrets the language he used while pushing for the advertisement of a horse race on the side of the iconic building.
Speaking on air this morning, the 2GB mainstay said his Friday invective about the Everest Cup advertisement – and his claim that Herron should lose her job for opposing the projection of the race’s barrier draw tonight – was a bit much.
“I used some words in these programs about the Everest, and the Opera House, and Louise, which in hindsight I now most regret hearing, having heard the impact they’ve clearly had on some people,” Jones said.
He added that he was “tough” on a matter he felt people sincerely cared for. Tough, in this instance, means threatening to call NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian to complain about Herron’s apparent insolence in the face of enormous corporate and media interests.
“I don’t believe my words or actions qualify as those of a bully or a misogynist, but there are clearly many people who do believe that,” Jones said, before offering his apology to “Louise, and those people who have been offended”.
This was Racing NSW’s official submission to the Sydney Opera House pic.twitter.com/a25kRBATyR
— The Sydney Morning Herald (@smh) October 5, 2018
It also comes as a petition bearing hundreds of thousands of signatures calling for the advertisement to be scrapped was presented to NSW State Parliament this morning.
That tide of negative public sentiment also extended to the world of satire, as The Chaser went ahead and projected Jones’ number on the Opera House last night in protest.
As it stands, the barrier draw is slated to be projected on the building tonight.
