Nine urged to ‘not profit from racism’ and sack Sam Newman over George Floyd comments
During a discussion about AFL players kneeling before a game in support of the Black Lives Matter movement on his podcast, Sam Newman has called George Floyd – the unarmed black man who was killed in Minneapolis by a white police officer kneeling on his neck – a “piece of shit”, “crackhead”, and “pornstar”.
In response, #StandDownSam and ‘Sam Newman’ have trended on Twitter, and an online petition directed at Nine has been circulated. The petition, which refers to Newman as “one of Australia’s most prominent racists”, calls on the network to stand down the 74-year-old less than a week after he returned to screens on Nine’s The Sunday Footy Show, in a new weekly segment called ‘Sam’s Shed’.
The petition
“George Floyd … is piece of shit,” Newman said on his podcast, You Cannot Be Serious. “He has been in jail five times, he held up a pregnant black woman with a knife, he’s a drug addict, he’s a crackhead and he’s a pornstar.
“He’s dead because of the police brutality and it never should have happened. But I am telling you who George Floyd is, now they’ve made a monument about him and he’s a piece of shit.”
Newman went on to say that AFL players don’t know “why they’re kneeling at this stage”.
“The players wouldn’t have knelt if George Floyd hadn’t been suffocated by a disgraceful act by the American police,” he said. “The protest was about police brutality, then it morphed into all those other things then they came out and said it’s about racism here and Aboriginals.”
LeBron James – who regularly uses his platform as a high profile NBA player to speak out about racism and social issues – was also the target of Newman’s criticism because of a tweet posted last month about the police shooting of black man Ahmaud Arbery. James said black people are “literally hunted” when “we step foot outside the comfort of our homes”.
“This is LeBron James’ statement, this is what you’re dealing with, this is how you divide people,” Newman said.
“Now what sort of irresponsible nonsense is that and how does that unite people? That does more to drive a wedge between people, that divides people.
“That’s meant to be a responsible person who is meant to be partially educated. Why do people put up with nonsense like that?”
We’re literally hunted EVERYDAY/EVERYTIME we step foot outside the comfort of our homes! Can’t even go for a damn jog man! Like WTF man are you kidding me?!?!?!?!?!? No man fr ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!! I’m sorry Ahmaud(Rest In Paradise) and my prayers and blessings sent to the….. pic.twitter.com/r1PNxs8Vgn
— LeBron James (@KingJames) May 6, 2020
Newman’s comments have attracted widespread condemnation. Fellow Nine employee, Jim Malo, a property writer for Domain, tweeted: “Genuinely ashamed this clown is employed by the same company as me”, while former Sydney Morning Herald columnist Mike Carlton said: “How much longer will Nine put up with this vulgar, ranting, knuckle-dragging fuckwit?”
Mumbrella approached Nine for comment.
Genuinely ashamed this clown is employed by the same company as me https://t.co/X4uuKkkNpw
— Jim Malo (@jimmalo7) June 18, 2020
“In pursuit of ratings and profit during a shortened footy season, Channel Nine is banking on racism to make back their advertising bucks. And by doing so, Channel Nine has made itself complicit in fuelling hatred and violence,” reads the petition, which demands that the network “must not profit from racism, [and] remove Newman”.
“Newman’s hate speech normalises bigotry and emboldens those who seek to do harm to Black people, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, Muslim people, and others.”
If George Floyd’s death on May 25th was of such importance, why didn’t the NRL kneel in homage at the first opportunity when they played on 28th May? #wtf
— Sam Newman (@Origsmartassam) June 13, 2020
Newman has a history of making controversial comments concerning race. Last month, the former AFL player and long-time Footy Show panellist attracted criticism for other comments made on Twitter, in which he posted a photo of the line up of women sprinters in a Doha race captioned: “Women’s 200 metres in Doha. Is there anyone who is white, that can run? Please don’t quit, Sally Pearson,” referring to the white Australian runner and gold medallist.
He proceeded to post another photo of the Doha race referring to a white athlete as “The Lone Ranger”.
Newman calls George Floyd “a piece of shit.”
How much longer will Nine put up with this vulgar, ranting, knuckle-dragging fuckwit ? https://t.co/oxemwlkrSe
— Mike Carlton (@MikeCarlton01) June 18, 2020
Newman has also insisted that booing levelled at AFL player Adam Goodes was not racist, but in response to his behaviour on-field. He prominently appeared in last year’s documentary The Final Quarter, which centred on Goodes’ treatment and led to the AFL apologising for not doing more to call out racism.
Criticizing someone from another race – doesn’t make you a racist. The groveling doco by Sharkshit Productions ‘The Final Quarter’, should be ‘The Last Straw’. Adam Goodes initially was booed for taunting Carlton fans. Racist? So be it. #racism #fakenews
— Sam Newman (@Origsmartassam) June 9, 2019
In response to George Floyd’s death, media companies around the world have been forced to reckon with allegations of racism and toxic cultures. In the US, the recent resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement has led to the resignations of editors from The New York Times, Man Repeller, Refinery29 and Bon Appetit.
Locally, News Corp has been admonished for publishing a column by Peter Gleeson that appeared in The Sunday Telegraph last weekend and featured a racial slur. He wrote: “the greatest danger to aboriginals and n*groes is themselves”.
In today’s Telegraph: columnist Peter Gleeson claiming the “greatest danger to ‘aboriginals and n*groes’ is themselves”. You can make a complaint to the Press Council here: https://t.co/BecSyrVN3r (photos via @imerincook) pic.twitter.com/kl0T3yf8jj
— cathy (@catherinebouris) June 14, 2020
And Nine itself has already faced intense criticism – both internal and external – regarding its reporting of Indigenous issues. The Age was forced to issue two separate apologies over a front-page story that made an unsubstantiated allegation that Black Lives Matters protesters were planning violence, and an incorrect editorial claiming Australia doesn’t have a history of slavery.
The incidents spurred almost 70 journalists to sign a letter sent to Nine executives last weekend expressing concern that the newspaper’s “proud reputation and independence” was at risk, due to pressure “to produce particular angles”. Yesterday, less than a week after the letter, it was announced that the masthead’s editor, Alex Lavelle, would depart after 20 years’ with the title and four as editor.
Brittney Rigby was Mumbrella's deputy managing editor - news and analysis. She left Mumbrella in April 2021.
Linkedin
topics
Alex Lavelle
Black Lives Matter
George Floyd
Lebron James
News Corp
Nine
Peter Gleeson
Sam Newman
The Age
Nine has always been dinosaur central. Home of racism, sexism and homophobia. Everyone in positions of power is straight, white, male and old. Can’t wait to see the whole thing come crashing down.
User ID not verified.
Sam Newman, take him or leave him. However I think it is important that we censor people when they say things we don’t like or agree with.
User ID not verified.
I don’t understand the issue – you can agree that George Floyd was murdered by a cop, and be outraged by that, while also accepting he wasn’t exactly a model citizen. One thing has nothing to do with the other. Was Sam saying he deserved it? That would be an issue, otherwise it’s just facts. Let’s not make a martyr of the guy.
User ID not verified.
‘Everyone in positions of power is straight” is that the case ‘Not Surprised’?
That’s going to come as a surprise to Peter Hitchener who presents the weekly news on Channel 9 and has done for decades.(One of the most senior people on the network.)
Female wise in senior positions to0 many to list. But Tracey Grimshaw comes to mind immediately.
Racist? Hmmm I remember growing up watching Ernie Dingo on Channel 9’s Getaway. One of the first First People with a full time role on a commercial network and it was Channel 9.
User ID not verified.
Alan leaving means they need right-wing balance to this part of their audience. Seriously though, WTF, what an absolute piece of trash…at some point consumers and advertisers need to speak up with their eyeballs and wallets
User ID not verified.
Sam Newman losing his job isn’t censoring. It would be a totally valid reason for someone to get the axe. There’s a huge difference between taking away someone’s platform and stopping them from speaking.
User ID not verified.
‘I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.’ – Voltaire
User ID not verified.
I totally agree.
Sam was just saying he wasn’t a model citizen
Why can’t he say that ?
User ID not verified.
Apologies It’s George Floyd of course not Ford . Don’t let my mistake detract from my comment
User ID not verified.
Alan Jones launches new show on Fox News Australia.
A serious question: should all sporting codes pull out of Sky / Fox, so that their brands are not tarnished by the Murdoch News / opinion?
Sky*
User ID not verified.
It doesn’t quite fit the narrative does it?
The only story that they want people to hear is a racist cop as part of a racist system targeted and murdered George Floyd. Which somehow gives people a get out of jail free card to destroy private businesses in some of the poorest parts of the cities.
Don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story, because if you call it out, you’re whatever @Not surprised said above.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out in November, whether the loud public will vote for change, or the silent population will re-elect Trump.
User ID not verified.
Really? ‘You can still speak Sam but we will make sure no one can hear you’. Not really a lot of difference. This is censorship of commentary that doesn’t fit the acceptable narrative.
User ID not verified.
What a weird thing to say! News Limited commands about 70% of eyeballs in the news space. Probably about 80% (or even more of the sports coverage space). Why would sport’s code forgo that sort of coverage? Weird.
Alan Jones himself has a huge loyal listener base, has been involved in rugby most of his life and is a knowledgeable commentator. An excellent addition to Fox News.
It’s like the noisy element think everyone has to think/follow them. Weird.
User ID not verified.