Yesterday, KIIS FM presenter Kyle Sandilands was found to have breached radio decency standards with comments made in a segment discussing the Tokyo Paralympics.
On Wednesday’s edition of Sandilands’ wildly popular “The Kyle and Jackie O Show,” he took aim at the media, management and what he perceived as society’s obsession with tearing down people for speaking the truth.
At multiple times throughout the broadcast, he made reference to censorship, sensitivity and being the only one to say what other people think.
Sandilands was censored multiple times throughout the broadcast as he made reference to the ruling, with censors beeping out his attempts to address the controversy. Some references, however, did sneak through.
“If anyone should be jolted, it should be me. I’ve opened up the newspaper this morning to learn things I didn’t know yesterday,” he said.
“Yeah, I’m in there [the news]. Some sort of bullshit in there about something I didn’t even know about. Still don’t know about. One day I’ll find out,” he said, as well as suggesting the program scraps its news segment for the day.
He was responding to media commentary surrounding a scathing report released on Tuesday, where the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) said that Sandilands’ remarks in the September 2021 segment were “beyond any reasonable measure of decency.”
“Comments like those broadcast on this program have no place in our society, never mind on a commercial radio program,” said ACMA Chair Nerida O’Loughlin.
“Mocking participants in an event that celebrates equality and showcases the highest levels of human endeavour is beyond any reasonable measure of decency.”
The comments in question saw Sandilands describe his viewing of some Paralympics events as “horrific,” before singling out the high jump and soccer events with controversial remarks.
Two days after making these remarks, in a follow-up segment, Sandilands publicly addressed a journalist who had called him out over the incident. These remarks were also found by the ACMA to breach decency standards.
“Threatening and intimidating an individual is an unacceptable response to criticism and an entirely inappropriate use of broadcast media,” Ms O’Loughlin said.
During the investigation, his KIIS FM breakfast program “The Kyle and Jackie O Show” added a second layer of censor controls to live broadcasts. This is in addition to the seven-second delay requirement that was already in place for the program.
The program has pledged to maintain the second censor for a period of two years, issuing a court-enforcible undertaking to ensure compliance and conducting sensitivity training for all staff of the show.
Sandilands comments caused controversy at the time, with Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John calling for him to be sacked from radio.“Kyle’s comments are abhorrent, ignorant, and ableist,” he told news.com.au
“He has a long history of espousing hate and these comments are hurtful to disabled people. He needs to pull his head in and apologize to our athletes and the disability community.
“There is no place for ableism in our community, and these comments are the latest example of why Kyle should be sacked from his broadcasting roles.”
