In a new chat, Abbie Chatfield was baffled why as to why Kyle Sandilands was allowed to ‘continue’ in light of his offensive comments.
In a new chat with the Daily Telegraph, radio star Abbie Chatfield called out the double standards in public response to Kyle Sandilands and his train of recent ‘disgusting’ comments.
Pointing out that other radio stars – had they made comments such as Sandilands has – would not have been allowed to continue on air, Chatfield wondered why Sandilands had not received the cancel culture treatment yet.
Chatfield’s words come after Sandilands’ on-air rant in September, in which he used an ableist slur to describe his colleagues. He also used multiple derogatory terms – such as ‘flops’ and ‘absolute assholes’ – for his coworkers and bosses. The ensuing backlash led to advertisers reviewing their advertising commitments to the network.
The incident also prompted the Australian Radio Network to issue an official apology, during which they also claimed to be conducting an internal review of the entire matter.
In her remarks, Chatfield noted that this wasn’t the first time that Sandilands had been pulled up for offensive comments, leading her to wonder why he was even allowed on air.
“I don’t know why he’s not at least being reprimanded. I don’t know why advertisers still align. It’s continually disappointing and continually disgusting, the things that he says on air.” she said.
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“It’s as baffling to me as it is to everyone else. I don’t know how he can continue. What he said during the Paralympics was awful, and then saying one of the night hosts probably had monkeypox.” she added.
She also noted the double standards in the responses to Sandilands’ comments. While a lot would dismiss his comments as being typical of him, Chatfield was quick to note that similar remarks would not have flown with other jockeys.
Sandilands himself issued a statement following backlash to his recent rant, but it was more a non-apology than a reflection. While he did apologise for hurting people’s feelings, he went on to claim that he won’t change for the ‘woke world’.
“If you are offended by any of those words, I am sorry about that. I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. I like to make people feel fun and relaxed and happy, and safe. That is what I like,” Sandilands said on air, before adding: “I’m still not changing [for] the woke world”.
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