‘How many chances do these men get?’: Marty Sheargold’s shocking history revealed

Before making offensive comments about the Matildas and claiming endo was “made up”, Marty Sheargold was pardoned from a line-up of incidents — and now women from the industry are telling all.

“Here we go again” — that was the first thought of many women when they heard about Marty Sheargold’s comments.

Too often these incidents have been swept under the rug or simply referred to as poor attempts at comedy.

Even women who have previously worked with Sheargold were angered and disappointed by his latest outburst.

Marty Sheargold parted ways with Triple M following offensive on-air comments about the Matildas. Picture: Triple M

One thing that surprised them in a good way, was the action of his employer, Southern Cross Austereo, who moved — after widespread outcry — to part ways.

“Too often in the radio industry, and particularly at Triple M, there have been shows hosted by boorish comedians,’’ said long-time respected broadcaster Amanda Keller.

“Men who are, as I said, who are comedians and they’re put with women whose job it is to say, ‘Oh stop it.’ That is so boring.

“Marty Sheargold himself said when he was doing a show, a breakfast show, with Fifi Box a number of years ago, he said he became a giant a-hole and he said he was all ego and he had to step away. He said, “I battered that woman down. Show after show. And I don’t blame Fifi for wanting to get out.” This is what he said at the time.

“And then he said he needed to take a break. This is a man who was also rumoured to be kicked out of the AFL Grand Final, for what they said on the news last night, for comments he made about women. That’s nice. But he said he was mentally exhausted, had to take some time away. And here we are again. How many chances do these men get? I’m hoping that the tide has turned. The outpouring of horror has been so loud.”

Marty Sheargold with Meshel Laurie and Tim Blackwell. Laurie congratulated Triple M and Southern Cross Austero for parting ways with Sheargold. Picture: Supplied

Comedian, author and podcaster Meshel Laurie, who worked with Sheargold and Tim Blackwell on the Meshel, Tim and Marty breakfast show on Nova in Brisbane for four years, before leaving in 2013, said the industry as a whole needed to change.

Swimming great Leisel Jones was moved to tears discussing Sheargold’s derogatory comments about women’s sport and The Matildas while working on Triple M on the Gold Coast.

“Congratulations Triple M Melbourne and Southern Cross Austereo,” Laurie posted on social media.

“An Australian commercial radio network has actually “parted ways” with a male presenter over his toxic attitude towards women.

“I honestly never thought I’d live to see the day.

“I must admit, I wouldn’t have advised Leisel Jones to speak out about this, because I went to my radio bosses many times over many years about the men I worked with, and in the end, I became unemployable in the industry, while they just kept doling out formal warnings to the offenders, and kept employing them.

“Is it possible the industry is actually changing? Well done Leisel Jones and well done Triple M. This is huge.

“Love to all the talented and hard working women working in radio. Keep pushing! Time for a female-led national drive show? Dare we dream?”

Another well known radio personality, speaking on condition of anonymity, said repeated behaviours were too often accepted.

“Men will cross the line and treat people poorly but the ‘blokey culture’ always wins out,’’ they said.

Media personality Em Rusciano slammed Triple M, claiming on social media that there is an inherent misogynist culture at the network.

Comedian Em Rusciano claimed there was an inherent misogynist culture at Triple M. Picture: David Swift

Rusciano, who worked on the Triple M Perth breakfast show for four years, claimed to have experienced misogyny at the station first-hand.

“Fun fact,” the former host began the post.

“When I went into MMM to meet with (an employee) in 2012 about possibly doing some stuff with them, I was told: “Unless you have a c--- and b---s, I don’t care about your opinion”.’

“I later found out that he would also say that at the weekly team meetings. In front of actual people. Some of whom did NOT have a c--- and or b---s.”

In an accompanying video, she said she was glad that Australian women were speaking out.

“I just feel like he hit on a collective issue — don’t mess with the Matildas, don’t degrade women’s sport,” she continued.

“We’ve just had enough. We were looking for a tipping point and weirdly enough it’s some bogan on Bogan FM. Let’s go, girls.”

Originally published as ‘How many chances do these men get?’: Marty Sheargold’s shocking history revealed