Damian Barrett issues bizarre definition of on-air laughter at Barry Hall’s vulgar comments

THE laughter at Barry Hall’s vulgar comments about a pregnancy procedure on Triple M was not “ha ha laughter”, sports reporter Damian Barrett claims.

THE laughter at Barry Hall’s vulgar comments about a pregnancy procedure on Triple M was not “ha ha laughter”, sports reporter Damian Barrett claims.

Barrett, who was in the commentary box when Hall made the comments about Leigh Montagna’s wife, has explained his role in the saga.

There was general laughter after the comment, which cost Hall his job at Triple M and a clothing sponsor this week.

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Barry Hall at Adelaide airport on the weekend. Picture: AAP/Dean Martin

Damian Barrett has explained his role in the Barry Hall incident.

“It wasn’t joke laughter, it wasn’t ha ha laughter … it was not humorous laughter, it was stupid laughter, it was spontaneous laughter, it was an awkward laughter, it was a nervous laughter, but it was not, as I’ve heard it described, uproarious laughter,” Barrett said on his Sounding Board podcast with Crocmedia owner Craig Hutchison today.

Hutchison responded that a “lot of people would find that a bit hard to believe what you’ve just said”.

The veteran reporter, whom Hutchison described as “famously conservative”, said he “didn’t laugh” at the comment.

Ex-player Nathan Brown, Montagna and presenter Mark Howard were also in the commentary box with Hall.

There was laughter in the lead up to Hall’s comments, when Howard introduced the topic of the pregnancy procedure and Brown urged Montagna to “talk about your wife’s sweep”.

Triple M has confirmed that all commentators were counselled over the incident.

Hutchison then asked on the podcast: “How do you feel about Barry now, do you feel let down? Do you feel annoyed? Can you forgive him? What’s your view of Barry.”

Barrett replied: “All of the above.”

Barrett had appeared on The Footy Show on Wednesday night but was not grilled about it by host Eddie McGuire, who also appears on Triple M’s breakfast show.

Craig Hutchison told Damian Barrett that a “lot of people would find that a bit hard to believe what you’ve just said”. Picture: Jay Town

Damian Barrett says the laughter at Barry Hall’s comment was not “ha ha laughter”.

Barrett told the podcast he tried to “straighten up” the pregnancy conversation when it veered into the dangerous territory.

“I then … referenced the word procedure or medical procedure, now that was an attempt … to straighten up the conversation,” he said.

“Clearly I didn’t straighten it up anywhere near enough because of what was to happen in the following seconds.”

Barrett said he took responsibility for his part in the conversation but rejected claims that Triple M had a problem with its behaviour following previous gaffes.

“It may sound really hollow in saying it, I would say but we have fixed ourselves up, we had until the madness of that conversation going off the cliff last Friday night,” he said.

It comes as Hall lost a sponsorship contract with fashion brand Hammersmith.

“The partnership that Hammersmith signed with Barry Hall was based on agreeing to uphold our values of integrity, and respect for all people regardless of gender, size, age, nationality or anything else,” a spokesperson told AdNews.

Beaumont Tiles, a Triple M sponsor, said: “We made our disappointment clear to Triple M regarding Friday evening’s on-air incident, and support the immediate action of Triple M to remove the commentator from the commentary box, issue an on-air apology and subsequently terminate that commentator’s employment.

“We further acknowledge and support the other less visible actions being undertaken by Triple M in regards to this incident.”

Hall has not returned calls on Thursday.

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