Dave Hughes roasts Logie Awards celebrities in his speech
DAVE Hughes took aim at TV’s biggest names as he opened the Logies. Tim Worner, George Calombaris, Grant Denyer and others were on his list.
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COMEDIAN Dave Hughes delivered on his promise to take aim at TV’s biggest names as he opened the 59th TV Week Logie Awards tonight.
Karl Stefanovic got off lightly and a joke about Gold Logie nominee Samuel Johnson fell flat, but Channel 7 CEO Tim Worner, who was not in the audience, was the prime target.
“Channel 7 were working on a pilot for The Wrong Girl, that was starring their CEO Tim Worner,” Hughesy said. “That was more a reality show. He picked the wrong girl to mess with.”
“It was going well but they thought it was too expensive and tried to cancel it.”
Worner hit the headlines this year after revelations of his scandalous affair with former Seven employee Amber Harrison became public, and was recently aired in the NSW Supreme Court.
Hughes then shouted over the crowd’s laughter, “I’ve never worked for Channel Seven and I never will after this.”
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Stefanovic got only a brief mention, despite Hughesy saying the recently divorced brekkie host didn’t need any more attention.
“The paparazzi followed Karl to America. I can’t get them to follow me down the street,” Hughesy said.
Even Hughes, who has opened the show to critical acclaim for the past three years, misses his mark from time to time. A joke about Samuel Johnson failed to win a laugh from the audience.
“He decided he’s going to quit acting and focus on Love My Sister. Whether that selfishness will get him a Gold Logie I’m not sure …”
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Also borderline were Hughes’ jokes about Grant Hackett, who has endured a very public breakdown and battle with mental illness since finishing his career as a professional athlete.
He had a crack at Hackett under the guise of congratulating Grant Denyer on returning to TV after his recent horror rally crash.
“He gets injured and gets on with it,” Hughes said. “Hello Grant Hackett … ‘Oh I’m going to rehab again’. Well, listen this time! He’s a great Australian, but he’s being a bit whingey.
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‘He put a picture of himself on Instagram and said, ‘look what my brother did’.
Well that’s what brother’s do, Grant. You’re being a d--- and you get a clip.
Look on the bright side, you could be Kim Jong Un’s brother.”
MasterChef judge George Calombaris has hit the headlines recently for underpaying staff, which didn’t escape Hughes’ notice.
“George said he was devastated when he found out. If he hadn’t have found out, he wouldn’t have been devastated,” he said.
“He’s a chef, not an accountant. That’s why he cooked the books.”
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