Kyle Sandilands has hit back at accusations that he is a “gay hater” after he made hurtful comments about Monkeypox.
Last week, the shock jock referred to the contagious virus live on radio as “the big gay disease floating around”. Sandilands was speaking to his co-hosts about whether he wants those visiting his new born son to be vaccinated. “What about me, do I need the Monkeypox vaccine?” Brooklyn Ross asked, who is openly gay.
“No, we’re not letting any gays near him,” Sandilands responded on KiisFM’s Kyle and Jackie O show, who then suggested called Ross’s partner Damien to ask if he was worried about catching the viral disease. Homosexual and bi men have a much higher chance of contracting Monkeypox.
“The Monkeypox. The big gay disease floating around, it’s only the gays getting it. Are you worried about getting it?” Sandilands asked Damien.
Shortly after the segment aired, a spokesman from the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations called Kyle’s comments “deeply unhelpful”.
“When people hear segments such as this, it inflames stigma and deters people from visiting healthcare clinics to be tested and vaccinated,” he said.
Victoria’s Chief Health Officer, Prof Brett Sutton also weighed in on the controversial comments,
“Please remind me – what’s the point of Kyle Sandilands? If you can’t say something constructive, maybe keep quiet?” he tweeted.
However, Sandilands appears to believe that he hasn’t crossed any sort of line, and has stood by what he said on The Kyle and Jackie-O show.
“Did you guys see that the newspaper on the weekend that tried to rubbish me and edited what I said to make out that I was a gay-hater?” he asked his co-host Jackie-O on this morning’s show.
“Andrew Hornery [journalist for the Sydney Morning Herald] trying to pass the hot tomato… because all the gays hate him, remember because of the Rebel Wilson outing and he’s trying to throw the blame on to me because I dared let all the gays know ‘watch out for the moneypox.”
“I didn’t even say anything bad about the gays,” Sandilands went on. “The gays are getting the monkeypox. It was a warning. No one else is giving the gays the warning.” he added.
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