Triple M fires Barry Hall for crude on-air joke
Former AFL player Barry Hall has been dragged off air and fired after making a crude comment during Triple M Melbourne’s pre-game coverage of Western Bulldogs versus Geelong on Friday night.
Hall’s comment came during banter about fellow panelist Leigh Montagna’s pregnant wife Erinn. Discussing a medical procedure carried out by a doctor, Hall said: “The doctor was a good looking rooster about 40 years of age. He did a sweep with his fingers and licked his fingers afterwards…”
The audio can be heard via this link.
Within minutes, Hall was removed from the broadcast and dropped by the Southern Cross Austereo owned network.
Head of content Mike Fitzpatrick then issued a statement saying: “Tonight on Triple M Football there were unacceptable and inappropriate comments made by a member of the commentary team.
“The commentator was removed immediately from the broadcast and an apology was issued on air afterwards.
“Immediate action was taken with the termination of employment for one team member.”
At the time of posting, Triple M had not responded to a request for comment from Mumbrella about whether there had been a breakdown in the “dump button” procedure, designed to prevent offensive comments going to air.
Hall was only announced as part of Triple M’s footy call team two months ago.
At the time, the network said: “Just when you thought a line-up could not get much better, there’s even more additions to the Triple M footy team this season with Sydney Swans premiership winning captain, the big, bad, bustling Barry Hall
Since the end of his football career, Hall had made inroads into the media, including as a contestant on the first season of Ten’s I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, and with the Fox Footy team, although that role ended last year.
Hall has also worked with brands including Kleenex and more recently was part of Optus’s “Splashies” lilo race around the Commonwealth Games.
The controversy is not the first for Triple M Melbourne involving on-air comments about women. In 2016, breakfast host Eddie McGuire apologised for joking that he wanted to drown The Age’s Caroline Wilson.
More recently, Triple M was at the centre of controversy over this year’s Ozzest 100 countdown, which it ran on Australia Day after the ABC’s Triple J moved its own Hottest 100 countdown to a less culturally sensitive date.
It’s MMM rape culture through and through. The other presenters were laughing along.
Every woman’s worse fear is a male doctor who gets off on this doing their job.
Barry and the others were laughing along at Leigh’s wife being raped.
Mike Fitzpatrick getting rid of Barry hall is not enough.
Stop your station perpetuating rape.
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I believe the afternoon show with Billy B. on MMM needs an overhaul. The show always sounds like half pi…d blokes in the pub having a yarn. Certainly not appropriate for that time slot. Billy is downright crude putting 3 or 4 swear words in every sentence. Radio commentators need to be role models.
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This is what you can expect when a fellow is employed in the media simply because he once showed promise at kicking a football.
There are horses for courses, any professional radio or other media commentator, would know that there are many people out there listening to or reading what you have to say. Appropriate behaviour and good manners are essential.
To quote the Bard of Avon, [quote] “The world is grown so bad, that wrens make prey where eagles dare not perch.
Since every jack became a gentleman,
There’s many a gentle person made a jack.” [unquote]
A career as a footy player, and an appearance on a (so called) reality show, does not a media commentator make.
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How to end a career in less than 10 seconds..!!
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Why is no one talking about the way Leigh Montana allowed his wife to be discussed leading up to the crude comment? The entire conversation was disrespectful and inappropriate.
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It is not just inapproriate sexual comments that this radio station condones, a few years ago they broadcast a segment called “root, shoot or marry”, during school drop off time. The woman who was named as the one the be shot, was our then prime minister Julia Gillard. As a mother of three children, I complained and was met with a lukewarm response from the station manager that he was unaware that the segment was going to air. If this radio station is comfortable promoting violence against women then it does not surprise me that they also condone rape.
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I think it was Triple J that was at the centre of controversy over Australia Day for moving it in the first place.
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Lol.
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Who’d’ve ever thought Barry Hall was a crass POS bogan with no filter?
Oh wait…
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Rock, Sport And Rape – 104.9 – Sydney’s Triple M.
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Ha! Nice one David. Let me guess, are you white, 30 – 45 and an avid listener to Triple M?
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No they weren’t Leigh Montagna instigated it
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Footy bogans in the media at their best. Not that far removed from the blokey locker room. A great sport with some fantastic alumni. You don’t need to be a retired player and be a rocket scientist- you just have to be a decent person- can we have more of those please.
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What was Leigh Montana doing speaking on radio during a football commentary about his wife ‘s personal and private information? If he does this on national radio his poor wife must be thinking about what he says about her at the pub with his mates. So disgusting. We can only hope his newborn baby is not a girl who will be talked about and laughed at by creepy men like Leigh and Barry and the other 3 laughing gutless creeps who didn’t immediately tell both Leigh and Barry how disgusting and inappropriate their comments were. Can’t believe any of them still have jobs. Yuck.
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Really ? I think everybody should calm down down and have a good hard look at themselves. Barry knocks out quite a innocuous remark and he is lynched ! Jesus – the disgusting people LIKE Salim Mehajer, Eddie Obeid, that ridicule and plague our society should be on trial here
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Montagna should be fired also. He instigated the conversation about his own wife, gave his own crude description of the procedure – “put a couple of fingers up” – and laughed along like an adolescent that just reached 2nd base for the first time and was telling his mates. His wife must be truly horrified.
Not overly surprising from him though, considering the precedents.
Triple M has a problem on its hands.
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Triple M has always been broadcast from a boy’s locker room. They employee Neanderthals who think their misogynistic talk is funny and cool. The station is stuck in an era long gone. Barry Hall should do what he does best, digging ditches.
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How hypocritical are these stations or the whole radio industry when these days swearing is allowed on radio & to hear the ‘F’ bomb dropped at times without repercussions. Barry Hall went too far yes then the man haters come out to say how men think its ok to rape etc…its common knowledge that women can be & are vulgar when in a group of girls so pull your heads in. Standards have definetly slipped in all corners of society & radio stations are just 1 area.
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The “Blokeyness” of AFL coverage has become totally underwhelming. Being an “ex” (has been) does not automatically qualify these neanderthals as media commentators. They should remain unheard and reserve their disgusting comments for the locker room. When is Australian media going to be mature enough to realise that the general public is really not interested in unintelligent and conversationally bereft sporting has-beens attempting to keep us entertained. This is a sad indictment on the mysoginistic culture which has pervaded football media coverage
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Radio announcers need to be role models? Who is telling their kids to aspire to be like a radio announcer??? They need better parents, not radio announcers as role models.
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He was a dirty grid on field and now off field
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Na! Nice one Yuri, let me guess, are you a Socialist, 20-35 and an avid listener of Triple J?
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Very disappointed. Imagine a husband instigating discussion on such a private matter. All should be sacked they were all laughing along….gross.
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bat shit as usual promotions all round
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Why bring race into this?
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Bang on Mel.
These blokes were never employed to speak. You only have to hear the grunts and the ‘ah..yeh..pretty good’ answers post match to realise that.
I find this is wholly centred around Aussie bogan culture as well.
Watch an NBA or an NFL game from the States… the commentary is broad, insightful, relevant to the game and funny.
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this may come as a shock to a lot of people, but triple m’s target audience actually likes this stuff. I don’t think anyone will be in a hurry to change for people who have never listened and are never likely to.
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100% agree. Why the hell was he talking about his wife’s doctor appointment? Totally gross.
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meanwhile Eddie McGuire likened an indigenous player to a big monkey and is still earning 7 figures
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Yeah he made an “innocuous remark” that perpetuates rape culture on a broadcast channel available to anyone in Australia – specifically young men who are being influenced by this kind of trash. Its actually terrifying some people don’t see the issue here.
Also, Salim & Eddie both did go to actual trial and were convicted, are you suggesting that to comment about them on Mumbrella would serve the true course of justice? Or was that just an excuse to single out two ethnic outliers?
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@Richard. No idea what you’re on about. Listen to the show regularly and have never heard Billy swear.
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Just to throw an alternate view.
Sure Barry said something really stupid and there should be a consequence. But his comments didn’t really impact anyone who heard it and it didn’t offend the player who’s wife Barry was talking about.
So then he gets fired on the spot and is made out to be the worst human in the world for his 5 second brain snap and on-air gaffe.
Barry now can’t go out in public, has been hated on by the media, the public and anyone who wants to jump on the bandwagon.
This all amounts to bullying and discrimination which could send Barry into an emotional spiral and depression. Meanwhile, all those who were apparently highly offended have forgotten about the incident and have moved onto the next target to throw their hate and over PC attitude at leaving Barry to pick up the pieces of his broken life.
Doesn’t seem fair that a 5 second gaffe, albeit how stupid it was, defines this guy and determines his future or lack of.
We do live in a very interesting, over judgemental, over precious and over PC time.
Meanwhile, Kyle Sandilands still has a job.
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Maybe he can just knock out anyone who pisses him off, just like in the old days. He’s a big boy, Im sure his small mind cant grasp the concepts of bullying and discrimination.
‘Me Barry…Me Kick Football…Me Lift Weights’ etc
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Can you imagine the headlines if MMM fired an expectant father?
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Shut up Jonathon you idiot. Mate, it was disgusting. Are you serious? If you think that’s funny or appropriate YOU have to have along hard look at yourself. And what sort of a dweeb is Montana laughing at that…at someone saying that about his wife. Unbelievable.
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Guess what, not everyone is so closed minded to particular sexual or medical procedures. How you associate rape to this, unless I missed something is outrageous.Montagna described it how he saw it. For any husband to see such procedures performed on their wife is Upsetting. As a bloke you can let it affect you, or as many of us do we joke about it. But how sensitive we have all gotten, if you can’t choose to listen to what’s worth listening to, and forget the rest.
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What would you consider an appropriate consequence?
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Why fire Barry? He’s such a nice guy. Havent you seen him on those commercials recently? He’s an amazing guy. My friend Brent really loves him
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