Literal walking and talking reason why we can’t have nice things Eddie McGuire has done it again, this weekend issuing a diluted and self-serving apology over recent comments he made about wanting to drown Fairfax journalist Caroline Wilson. Now that lukewarm non-apology has been taken to task by both Channel 10’s Jessica Rowe and triple j presenter Alex Dyson.
During his triple j Breakfast program this morning, co-presenter Dyson unleashed on McGuire, his non-apology, and the greater culture of the whole mess which seems to have left people such as McGuire unaccountable for making offensive statements.
“I really don’t like the ‘it’s your fault for misconstruing it’ style of defense. And it’s far too common — after doing something terrible, [men often make] the other person feel bad. I’m actually very upset. It makes me sick,” said Dyson.
Dyso pulled no punches now that he was on the subject, articulating a widely-felt view.
“I’ve talked to so many girls that I care about over the years who, in the past, have been very upset about things guys have done to them. It makes me very, very angry. That person is just around at house parties and they have to sit there — suddenly the burden of keeping the secret is on them.
“They don’t want to bring this guy into disrepute and ruin his reputation like it’s their fault for bringing it up. Well, that’s bullshit. That’s absolute crap. Deflecting little things doesn’t work in our society at all. Even if you’re making little jokes or doing things as crummy as actually assaulting people, you should stop being so cowardly and own up to things. Try and become a better person; that’s the strongest thing you could do.”
Pretty clear Dyson’s words were met with thunderous approval.
McGuire’s latest bonehead remark, regarding the drowning of a Fairfax reporter Caroline Wilson, left a lot of people wondering why this guy is still in the public eye. THEN when given the opportunity to apologize, he offered us a tepid bowl of non-apology; instead deflecting the blame onto the public for misunderstanding him.
The comments only came to light over the last few days thanks to writer Erin Riley’s blog post about them. Wilson has not been swayed by McGuire’s half-hearted retraction, herself rejecting his claims the comments were just “playful banter”.
“Casual violent language might be meant as a joke but … I wonder how many times we have to draw this line in the sand between this sort of language and what is a joke and what is obviously completely unacceptable,” she said.
Similarly, Channel 10’s Jessica Rowe rejected McGuire’s non-apology this morning, instead suggesting McGuire use the $50k he ‘jokingly’ offered for Wilson’s drowning as a donation to domestic violence organization White Ribbon.
“I’m really sick of these posturing blokes thinking they can get away with stuff because they think it’s funny. There are a lot of women who are sick and tired of feeling belittled and undermined,” said Rowe.
“He is someone who is a protected species. Because he is a Melbourne identity, he can constantly say these sorts of inappropriate things and then say, ‘oh I was only joking’.”
See Jessica Rowe and Alex Dyson’s response here below.
