Peter Helliar: “I will do better”
Project presenter tells former AFL player, "I am truly, unequivocally sorry. I should have believed you. I will do better.”
- Published by David Knox
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The Project‘s Peter Helliar has apologised to former AFL player Heritier Lumumba after his comments from 2017 resurfaced on social media.
Lumumba was interviewed by Waleed Aly in 2017 in which he discussed his experiences at Collingwood, alleging club racism including that he was called “chimp” by players.
https://twitter.com/theprojecttv/status/907550590485409793
In the interview Aly asked why other Collingwood players could not verify the name-calling, later prompting Helliar to question why more teammates had not publicly supported Lumumba’s claims.
“It would be really helpful if we heard more detail, specifically with the nickname,” Helliar said.
“We can’t find anyone who would speak to us who knew of that nickname over a playing career of 10 years.
“Even if you have to name names, take us into your experience. Paint the picture so we understand it more. Because if you don’t do that, then it just sounds like you’re smearing an entire club.”
These comments by Peter Helliar re Heritier Lumumba are cowardly, desperate and dishonest. It's pathetic to watch him cover for bullies. pic.twitter.com/mFVkzUQxU6
— Aamer Rahman (@aamer_rahman) September 13, 2017
On Monday a damning independent report found Collingwood guilty of “systemic racism” which had resulted in “profound and enduring harm” to First Nations and African players. The club’s response had been “at best ineffective or at worst exacerbated the impact of the racist incidents”.
Helliar has now apologised for his comments.
“I urge all fans & members to demand better from @CollingwoodFC,” he tweeted.
“This report is heartbreaking. To @iamlumumba I am truly, unequivocally sorry. I should have believed you. I will do better.”
Lumumba has also revealed in a lengthy thread The Project invited him back on the show to discuss the review, but he declined.
Collingwood president Eddie McGuire has also now apologised for saying in a Monday press conference it was a “day of pride” in acknowledging the damning report.
McGuire has since backflipped on his stance, admitting he “got it wrong”.
“I’m sorry that my error was a distraction from the importance of the findings on racism and the work that lies ahead,” he said.
Source: Yahoo
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- Tagged with AFL, The Project
7 Responses
David what’s with the low-res photos lately? Not sure if its just me, but Pete H looks all fuzzy in the main pic. Noticed it on some other recent posts too.
Not sure if WordPress compression has changed, as nothing changed at my end, so I’m not happy with it and looking into a fix.
Too often comedians shoot from the mouth and think about what they said years later. They can easily self edit like the rest of us do. My dad had a saying think before you speak.
Honestly I think Pete was in the right to not believe him when he first said that. How many people were involved in that club over the past 10 years? Even if it was just 30 people and one made claims that 29 other people wouldn’t back up the one shouldn’t just be automatically believed over 29 other people. It would be that one person had a problem with the club and tried to cause them problems by making stuff up about them.
Unlike Eddie, Pete has a good history of socially inclusive attitudes. His initial comments were bad, but i think his apology is genuine and he should be forgiven.
Eddie on the other hand has been given enough chances.
Too little too late. I am so sick of white men in powerful positions thinking they know better.
Should have believed him in 2017. Racism in Australia, racism in sport, and racism in Australian sport didn’t all just happen overnight when this report got leaked.