Major thing we all missed in Marty Sheargold’s vile on-air Matildas rant

Radio presenter and actor Marty Sheargold has been dumped by Triple M over his disgraceful Matildas comments – but there’s a lot more to it.

OPINION

Art, pornography and comedy – they are all slippery, subjective things.

They are concepts that are hard to nail down, but supposedly, we know it when we see it.

Leave it to unreconstructed man gristle, actor and radio personality Marty Sheargold and his defenestration this week to really reheat this old chestnut.

Yesterday, Mr Sheargold was dumped by Triple M after making a stream of deeply misogynistic comments that displayed the wit, wisdom and gender politics of a high school woodworking, knee-sock wearing teacher named Bruce circa 1963.

But, hang on a minute – because Mr Sheargold is not the only guilty one here.

He’s not the only one who is and should be coming in for a walloping today.

There is much, much more blame to go around, and Mr Sheargold has a number of accomplices who have so far managed to fly under the radar.

Marty Sheargold is not the only guilty one here. Picture: Supplied/Triple M

Let me introduce you to them.

This all started on Monday, when Mr Sheargold and co-hosts Troy Ellis and Will Ralston discussed the national women’s soccer team, the Matildas, on their radio show.

Mr Sheargold went on to “joke” – and those parentheses are really straining under the weight here – that “There’s something wrong with the Matildas”, saying they “reminded” him of “Year 10 girls. All the infighting and all the friendship issues, ‘the coach hates me and I hate bloody training and Michelle’s being a bitch’.”

“Now I’m sorry to undermine the whole sport, but that’s what I think of it so you can stick it up your arse,” he continued.

Nöel Coward, is that you?

But Mr Sheargold had more comedy gold up his no doubt polyester sleeves, reacting to news the Matildas are playing in the SheBelieves Cup with, “Oh, she believes in what? It better be men”.

Marty Sheargold’s Matildas rant shocked the nation. Picture: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

A reference by co-host Mr Ralston to the Women’s Asian Cup saw Mr Sheargold react, “Oh god. The Asian Cup. I’d rather hammer a nail through the head of my penis than watch that. Got any men’s sport?”

Let the record show that throughout all of these mots, that were decidedly not bon, there was only laughter and chortling in the background.

What, you might ask, of the laddish Robins to Mr Sheargold’s saggy leotarded Batman, Mr Ellis and Mr Ralston? Throughout the 35-second segment, there is repeated blokey chuckling at Mr Sheargold’s oh-so-daring quippery.

Why did they chummily go along with it?

While neither is heard agreeing with him, neither does either of them in any way push back. Neither of them offered any sort of even feeble rejoinder. Neither man has, as far as I’ve seen, commented or expressed any regret for not having spoken out at the time or done a better job of handling the situation.

VIEW GALLERY

Best-selling author, commentator and Cheek Media Co founder Hannah Ferguson has drawn attention to the fact that the shocking spray was met with laughter from the men in the studio.

Ferguson expressed her disappointment that “men are just so willing to let this stuff slide”.

“I can understand being live on air that sometimes people don’t know how to stop being an active bystander in a situation and actually contribute to the conversation,” she said.

“But from a listener’s perspective, and especially from a woman’s perspective, there wasn’t a silence – it was the loudest cackle that just completely enabled, permitted and encouraged this behaviour and rhetoric.

“If they’re willing to let it slide on a mic, what are they willing to let slide off air?”

The Matildas. Picture: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images

Let’s keep going with the accusing.

It was not only Mr Ellis and Mr Ralston but the untold number of Triple M staffers, producers and editors who seem to have found no issue with Mr Sheargold comments.

How many people inside the station up and down the food chain saw no problem with that having gone out into the world? Who then didn’t immediately twig they should put out a nice firm statement condemning his views and to give Mr Sheargold a week off to be forced to listen to the complete works of Germaine Greer on tape?

Even after the clip went viral on Tuesday and started to draw a barrage of criticism, it was only a day later on Wednesday morning that Triple M managed to wheel out a statement, including the classic weasley line of, “We are sorry for any offence caused”.

So too did Mr Sheargold attempt to dig himself out of the PR hole, offering up the staple non-apology apology of the international drongo league, local chapter president Kyle Sandilands.

Leisel Jones (left) spoke out about the situation on Wednesday morning. Picture: Supplied

He said, “Any comedy, including mine, can miss the mark sometimes, and I can see why people may have taken offence to my comments regarding the Matildas. I sincerely apologise.”

Oh, he can see, can he? Big of him.

It then took another 10 hours on Wednesday for the hue and cry to really reach fever pitch, for three-time Olympic gold medallist Liesel Jones to cry on air and for Triple M to pull their finger out and to actually act, agreeing to “mutually part ways”, cough, with Mr Sheargold late in the afternoon.

Today, Triple M must be hoping it has stanched the PR bleeding, but all they have done here is bow to public opinion and attempt to not lose any of that lovely advertising lolly.

Where does the buck stop?

L’affair Marty Sheargold is not just a story about one adult man’s rampant, incurable misogyny but about the untold number of people at the station who clearly saw nothing wrong with what he said.

No one countered him on air.

Meshel Laurie also hit out at the comments.

As did Georgie Tunny on The Project on Wednesday night. Photo: Channel 10

No station lawyers or publicists or producers or anyone seems to have attempted any sort of immediate follow up or damage control on Monday after the segment was broadcast.

Then, even when the dickishness of it all was pointed out to them, Triple M only threw its hands up and yelled “comedy”.

Like an antibiotic resistant case of the clap, for decades we’ve been here.

Some media personality, often a radio host, goes on air to do some supposed envelope pushing about some particular group of people who are never middle-aged white men, weirdly. Then, when there’s a public outcry, a gritted-teeth apology is forcibly squeezed out of the bloke – but generally not for the actual comments, but the “offence”.

Sorry, this sort of attempt at clean up goes, for you having had your feathers ruffled by my cutting edge, wickedly sharp wit, you humourless, dried up sourpusses.

Every time, the subtext is plain.

These blokes are just being provocative, great sh*t-stirrers of the proudly Australians stripe, true blue in their independence of thinking and shirking of PC-ishness. Everyone else is too wowserish.

When it comes to shock jocks, the more outrageous and offensive the better – as Kyle Sandilands knows.

Yeah, yeah, I get what the first half of the dubious title “shock jock” means.

Having polite, cogent views that go nicely with a cup of camomile tea and not generally spouting off like a riled-up badger does not a great career in radio make.

The more rabid, the more provocative, the more outrageous, the better.

But the issue is that when someone reasonably gets knickers in a twist, this sort of dickhead-ishness gets written off as just some fun times comedy or a whoopsie doodle.

How often do the men involved try to justify their behaviour?

Eddie McGuire is the standard bearer here.

In 2013 he referenced then Sydney Swans star Adam Goodes as King Kong, going on to apologise but then calling his deeply offensive comment “a slip of the tongue”, saying he had “put his foot in it”, gone “off on a tangent” and had been “that exhausted”. Diddums.

Mr McGuire dusted off this same old line in 2016 after he joked about drowning Fairfax journalist Caroline Wilson, apologising but also saying it “was clearly banter”.

Eddie McGuire is also no stranger to controversy.

“[I’m] really disappointed that these comments have led to these feelings from people,” he said.

Some people just don’t appreciate great comedy, I suppose. Who doesn’t enjoy a good giggle over a drowning?

In 2022, Jeremy Clarkson wrote a foul column about Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex, joking about her being pelted with excrement. Following a public outcry, he said he had “rather put my foot in it”.

It should be noted that Mr McGuire and Mr Clarkson enjoy ever-more-thriving careers.

Mr Sheargold, for what it’s worth, is one of the stars of the ABC’s brilliant comedy Fisk. Will he hang onto the part?

You know what I think comes next?

Mr Sheargold will take his legendary banter to somewhere like X or YouTube and will probably find an even more devoted audience and where he can really let fly.

It’s hard to keep a good woman down and a really mediocre man off the airwaves.

- With Shannon Molloy

Daniela Elser is a writer, editor and a commentator with more than 15 years’ experience working with a number of Australia’s leading media titles