★★★★★ 0/5

Calls grow for Nine to sack Sam Newman

Advertisers targeted amid calls to remove Sam Newman for his latest outburst on social media.

13
Leave a comment

Calls are growing for Nine to sack Sam Newman after his latest comments made on social media and a podcast.

Those calls come just days after he returned to the Sunday Footy Show, touted by Nine as “ever unpredictable.”

Newman, who joined Twitter in 2018, this week questioned AFL players ‘bending a knee’ for the Black Lives Matter movement and again took aim at Nine’s Footy Classified presenter Caroline Wilson describing her as “a piece of work.”

On a podcast, Newman also made derogatory remarks about slain US man George Floyd. He has also hit out at a statement by Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James after the death of a black man who was shot while jogging and more recently protested over COVID-19 rules preventing golfing in Victoria.

The comments levelled at Nine’s Caroline Wilson could also be in breach of Nine’s own workplace standards.

In 2017 CEO Hugh Marks set up a company hotline for staff to report instances of bullying and harassment.

“Your team leaders and Nine’s HR team have the resources and tools needed to respond effectively and follow clear guidelines when dealing with misconduct, harassment, discrimination and bullying issues. There are also clear procedures to be followed if someone has a grievance to report,” he said at the time.”

Marks continued, “It’s my job as CEO, and that of your senior leaders, to ensure that people who have been treated poorly will be heard, and that they will get appropriate support if they need it. Any matters which are raised and require further action will be addressed appropriately either internally or, if required, externally of Nine.”

Newman has also been the target of online petitions and social media campaigns aimed at Nine’s advertisers, with #StandDownSam and ‘Sam Newman’ trending on Twitter.

Neha Madhok national co-director, from advocacy group Democracy in Colour said, “Democracy in Colour is calling on advertisers to pull their funding from Channel Nine. It’s time that Australian networks know that racism in sport is simply not acceptable anymore and not something to profit off. These are people’s lives at stake and giving platforms to people who dehumanise Black and Indigenous people by putting on blackface or insulting victims of police brutality is a national embarrassment.”

Amongst a long list of controversial headlines Newman has previously breaches of the ACMA Code of Practice and attracted criticism for racial, homophobic and misogynistic comments.

In 2010 Nine agreed to pay $200,000 to charity in the event of any future ACMA breach by Newman for a period of six months. He was forced to undergo anti-discrimination training.

13 Responses

  1. Imagine how busy that hotline would have been 20 or even 10 years ago lol. I totally agree with others comments, this dinosaur needs to go asap & the ‘old boy’s club’ at 9 completely disbanded for good.

  6. How this oxygen thief still has a gig escapes me. In a perfect world, he should never be an “on-air personality” on any medium. I hope this is the final nail in the coffin.

  7. The “derogatory” remarks he made about George Floyd were that he was a piece of s***. That he held a pregnant woman at knife point, multiple burglary charges and meth/drug use. Sam also said he didn’t deserve to die but those facts stand, for some context on who the police were dealing with. I had not heard any of that through other media.

    1. That was reported by The Guardian, in a speech in the Australian Senate, on Floyd’s Wikipedia page, but no, don’t recall hearing it mentioned on 7, 9, 10, ABC or SBS news. Rather they portrayed a “gentle giant” to fit the narrative. His Texas rap sheet shows he held the woman in Texas at gunpoint during a home invasion, among many other crimes. The media refused to sit on this story until all the facts were known. Their behaviour is the equivalent to screaming “Fire!” in a crowded theater.

  10. I think he will be gone from Nine at years end anyway. Even before COVID tightened budgets he said he didn’t expect his contract to be renewed beyond this year. He was very lucky to get an extra two years last time given the demise of the footy show.

  11. I would say Sam is gone. In light of the recent racial tension around the world, these comments are unacceptable. Time has really passed Sam by and his views are very old world. Some people change with the times, but not Sam. I think it would be fair to suggest Caroline Wilson is now the bigger star of the two.

Leave a Reply