Mia Freedman ‘mortified’ by Roxane Gay podcast ‘fat shaming’ accusations
Founder of Mamamia Women’s Network Mia Freedman has issued an apology after she was accused of ‘fat shaming’ and breaching a podcast guest’s privacy when she revealed intimate details of phone calls and emails which took place ahead of the No Filter podcast recording.
Best-selling author and feminist commentator Roxane Gay appeared on Freedman’s No Filter to discuss her life story and the launch of her book Hunger, however in the introduction to the podcast Freedman disclosed details of emails and phone calls between Mamamia staff and Gay’s publicity team, which took place ahead of the interview.
Mamamia has quite the record in the last 2 years. Would make a fascinating subject for a bit of investigative journalism.
The apology is still all about her – typical Mia Freedman, no clue. Good ideas but no idea how to execute them. This will be at least good clickbait for her site & drive up revenue.
Mamamia got it wrong, and they apologised. What they were trying to do was in keeping with how Ronxane Gay communicates. It was clever, but wrong (and they admit it). End of story – well not quite.
Roxanes tweets today linking to the story again suggest this episode will be wonderful publicity and more books will be sold.
…shining through. No sincerity or authenticity in this business, pure opportunism & exploitation for clicks and the dollar.
I understand Mia made a mistake, but I dont understand this level of vitriol when we have journalists like Miranda Devine delivering bigoted, antiquated views on a regular basis and gets away with it.
if Miranda Devine had made those comments, the vitriol would be 10x
Mia’s comments weren’t deliberately trying to fat-shame or even criticise Roxane. In fact, they were trying to bring attention to her struggles and her book, albeit done badly and backfiring.
No Elspeth, Mia’s comments were NOT ‘trying to bring attention to her struggles and her book’. They were carefully crafted to shock and lure the listener/reader in and generate a larger audience/traffic which = more adv $$$ for MM. Mia’s business is about building an audience to sell ad revenue against – not selling Roxanne’s books.
Oh so now Mia Freedman is “the victim”? Even down to Mumbrella’s choice of a submissive, coquettish Freedman looking up to the camera plaintively? It fools no-one. Freedman is [edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy]. Why does the media continue to give this woman a free pass on anything she says and does? Save the free pass for those who have earned their success, not to those who had it given to them on a silver platter.
Mike, this comment tells me more about your character than it does about ‘this woman’ Mia Freedman’s.
“I made many mistakes. The first and worst was not understanding the difference between Roxane writing her book, Hunger, about her experiences and difficulties of trying to navigate the world and me talking about that experience from the outside, from my perspective”
Really? Come on, you’re not a newbie at this. You’re a mature adult who’s been working in media a long time. Not everything’s about your perspective. Not really an apology.
Hi Mia,
You’re a great person, not perfect, but definitely trying to do the right thing. I’ve listened to your podcast and your admiration for Ms. Gay is obvious….. it’s also obvious that she’s almost looking for anything you may say that she considers offensive.
Ms. Gay writes a whole book about her difficulties in this world being fat….. then gets extremely & easily offended if anyone points it out, even when done in without any malice…. Grow up Ms. Gay
Thanks Alex, I agree. I actually read the original article when it was published before the backlash, and it didn’t occur to me that it was so awful. In fact, I thought it was an interesting way of explaining what the book is obviously about and the struggles of being overweight. I don’t believe it was intended as click bait to deliberately offend Ms Gay – I originally read it as a way of actually trying to drawing empathy to her situation and her book. But of course I can see how it crossed the line.
Mia Freedman is unfortunately a very easy target for nasty critics and trolls because she has made a lot of money from her websites and social commentary. Yes she makes mistakes. Yes Mamamia publishes click bait. It also publishes thoughtful opinions on issues like feminism, positive body image, gay marriage, mental health etc. After last year’s US election, Freedman actively sought to interview people like Miranda Devine for a podcast series on the importance of genuinely listening to people who have opposing views to your own.
In that context, I think the backlash over this one poor choice of article is hugely disproportionate and unfair, particularly for someone who has so strongly advocated for positive image for women of all sizes, for so long.
Back track, back track, back track….. signal more virtues to fix it I reckon
It’s hardly news that Mia is a shrewd self promoter who will say or do anything to remain in the spotlight. The heartless, unkind intro was designed simply to get attention; to hell with the individual’s feelings. Still, it’s got us talking about her – again -and maybe more people will buy HER book now. Ideal timing for a new controversy..