It’s a testament to Australia that a paparazzo with a bright blonde fauxhawk and a predilection for wearing booby shirts to Oktoberfest is only our second-most colourful local government official (cc: Salim Mehajer), but here we are.
Lyons, the mayor of Geelong, was recently photographed wearing a shirt with a picture of a full-frontal naked Madonna hitch-hiking, super-imposed with the slogan “gas, grass or ass, no one rides for free”.
He has since come under fire from members of his council who say that the shirt is allegedly part of a pattern of sexist behaviour on his part. Cr Jan Farrell took to Facebook to say that “this is what passes for leadership in Geelong.”
Farrell added that she is “beyond offended at [Lyons’] ongoing disrespect for women” and that she believes him to be an “abysmal role model for the young men he meets.”
Darren Gooden, of the city’s Trades Hall, called for Lyons’ resignation, saying that “he can no longer be the mayor of a city in the 21st century”, while councillor Sarah Carter called the shirt “utterly appalling.”
Lyons has since responded to the furore on Twitter, saying he “didn’t wish to demean women” by wearing the shirt out to an event.
i had no idea of the slogan on yeaterdays t shirt bought years ago as a great photograph on a tshirt i certainly didnt wish to demean women!
— Darryn Lyons (@DarrynLyons) October 11, 2015
Prior to entering politics, Lyons worked extensively as a paparazzi, and his agency Big Pictures, liquidated in 2013, was the subject of lawsuits from Lily Allen, J.K. Rowling, Hugh Grant, Elizabeth Hurley and Sienna Miller.
Lyons also gave evidence at the 2007 inquest into the death of Princess Diana – his agency received photos of her final moments from its Paris stringer, although he has never published them, and says he would never sell them.
via 9 News
Photo: Don Arnold via Getty Images
