Alan Jones’ contract to be terminated if he missteps again: Macquarie Media
Macquarie Media has said it will terminate the contract of radio host Alan Jones if he again makes comments similar to those he made last week about New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
A statement made by Macquarie Media chairman Russell Tate, released today, said Tate had discussed the incident with Jones and told him ‘any recurrence of commentary of this nature’ would result in him being dumped by the broadcaster.
Jones’ comments about Ardern were met with disgust online
The decision comes after Jones said on his 2GB and 4BC breakfast show last week that Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison should ‘shove a sock down the throat’ of Ardern following her thoughts on climate change.
After the comments were met with significant backlash, Jones released a statement saying the outrage was a result of ‘wilful misrepresentation’ and that he had misspoken, instead wishing to say Arden should ‘put a sock in it’.
In the statement, Tate said the comments caused offence to ‘many people’ and that despite the fact Jones had since admitted the comments were ‘careless, unnecessary and wrong’ and apologised, action would be taken if the incident was repeated.
“On Thursday on his 2GB and 4BC breakfast show, Alan Jones made certain comments in respect of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, which caused offence to many people,” read the statement.
“Recognising the offence caused by his remarks, Alan on Friday publicly apologised for them.
“In his apology, Alan recognised that his comments were “careless, unnecessary and wrong”, and “should have been more clearly thought out”. He indicated that he had apologised sincerely to Prime Minister Ardern for any offence given, and had certainly not intended to suggest any harm through his comments.
“Notwithstanding his apologies, I have today discussed the matter with Alan and advised him that any recurrence of commentary of this nature will result in the termination of his contract.”
In May, Jones signed a contract with Macquarie Media to stay with the broadcaster for another two years, following increasing speculation that he would leave the station. Jones’ breakfast program on Sydney’s 2GB is the most popular in the slot, holding a sizable 17.4% share above closest rivals Kyle Sandilands and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson on Kiis 106.5 FM who hold 10.9%.
At the time, Tate said Jones had already had an ‘extraordinary radio career’ and that Macquarie Media were ‘delighted’ he would continue with the broadcaster.
The statement from Tate comes as Macquarie Media majority shareholder Nine has made a takeover bid for the broadcaster, which shareholder Jones has thrown his support behind. Jones holds a 1% stake in the business.
The comments made by Jones about Ardern are in no way an isolated incident. In 2018 alone he used the ‘n-word’ on air, demanded Opera House CEO Louise Herron resign over the Everest advertising debate and lost a $3.4m defamation case.
Jones has also previously made threatening comments about women, including former Prime Minister Julia Gillard who he said should be put in a bag and sent out to sea.
Why is he still in his role? Unacceptable, if there is a petition to have him removed I’m in. People power!
Regards, Andy
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I wish to support Alan Jones ,I think his comment about the New Zealand prime minister ,was what quite a few Aussie that love our country would liked to have said .good on him.
Woolworths will not be seeing me in any of their stores,I support free speech they don’t .
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It’s time for this ill-mannered misogynist dinosaur, Alan Jones, to be removed permanently from public life. His offensive attitudes & opinions are not relevant in the 21st century. His relationship with women is disrespecting, bullying and verbally violent. Surely he has used all of his chances to behave in an socially acceptable way and he is an embarrassment to 2GB. TIME TO GO, ALAN JONES!!!
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Odious little goblin.
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“As I’ve said a hundred times before. This is your last chance Alan.”
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Show me the money – I think that is how it goes?
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Too little, too late methinks. Jones’ abuse and bullying of anyone who has a different viewpoint to himself — and a partiularly virulent hatred of women (particularly those in power) — has been plain for years. And yet his $4m contract was just renewed. Will Jones suddenly be able to change what are obviously deeply entrenched behaviours? And if he doesn’t will Macquarie really pull the pin on their biggest momey maker? We shall see
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I honestly can’t tell if this is satire.
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Exactly. This statement from Macquarie Media is meaningless. They won’t do a thing if he’s still making a profit for them. Why bother with a statement like this? It’s hard to know who would believe it given all the hideous things he has got away with over the years.
It’s just depressing.
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Great news lets all encourage him to serve up a repeat performance ASAP. Then we can be rid of him. Sooner the better.
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The use of grammar suggests it’s serious.
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Blah, blah, blah… sure you will.
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Alan Jones will be stay at Macquarie Media until his contract expires whenever that is. Why ? Because he rates higher than any other radio commentator. And why is that ? Because he is controversial and speaks his mind. Yes he offends but in a free speech society someone is going to get offended every day of the week. Move on.
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But who will collect the ooshies?
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This IS a joke. Look at the use of punctuation .
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Sad isn’t it
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I’m with you Val. She really annoys me. He shouldn’t have used those words because they came across as violent but I really wish she’d shut up. She’s a Social Media Politician and she’ll come unstuck just like that Ken Doll in Canada did
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Yes, this is a free-speech society. But the fact that Alan Jones is still in his job is not a result of this, but a result of many people agreeing with him or feeling indifferent. Instead of throwing him out of his job, we need to ask ourselves what kind of society we are living in… He can say whatever he wants. But if most people get offended, don’t agree with him, and boycott his radio programmes; if all advertisers feel disgusted and pull out advertisements, then he will be gone in no time.
In a free-speech society, you can offend people. But if you offend most people, there are consequences…
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Valerie, please respond to this, explaining the difference between hate speech and calls for violence, and free speech? It might be a valuable exercise for you to consider that.
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