Eddie McGuire opens up on regrettable moments in his career

JESSICA Rowe has opened up on the “terrible time” in her life coinciding with the “boned” controversy involving Eddie McGuire.

JESSICA Rowe has launched a fresh assault on Eddie McGuire for his role in the infamous “boned” saga in 2006.

Speaking on Studio 10 on Monday morning, Rowe said the alleged remark came during a tough time in her life.

“It was a terrible time in my life and it was not helped by public abuse, abuse from within the network that I worked at and abuse from someone who was in charge of that particular network,” Rowe said. “It was horrific.

“It pre-empted then a very dark period in my life. A whole lot of factors contributed to be a perfect storm during that and it just makes me terribly sad.”

Her comments came in response to an interview McGuire gave with GQ Australia, where he addressed some of the gaffes he’s made throughout his career, including that incident a decade ago.

As chief executive officer of the Nine Network in 2006, reports surfaced about McGuire’s dubious language when discussing the future of the presenter.

Former Nine News director Mark Llewellyn revealed that when discussing whether to let Rowe go, McGuire said: “What are we going to do about Jessica? When should we bone her? I reckon it should be next week.”

Rowe and McGuire in happier times.

Llewellyn, who defected to Seven, told Crikey in 2011: “Not only do I remember Eddie McGuire saying what he said, I remember how he looked as he said it. Including his smirk as he used the ‘bone’ word.”

But McGuire denies ever using the term, instead maintaining he said “burn”.

“I checked myself, as it (bone) was a word that was bandied about — but it was a Sydney term and it was one that Mark Llewellyn, and others, used quite regularly. I use the term ‘burn’,” McGuire told GQ.

“Having said that, it was a rhetorical question put to the director of news as to what he was going to do to save Jessica Rowe as she was getting pounded (in the press). And I refute that I said ‘boned’ — I may have said ‘burned’.”

The 51-year-old is apologetic for how the whole affair panned out, and in particular, how Rowe was caught up in it all.

“I know Jessica’s been saying how hurt she was by it and I’ve deliberately not wanted to pick the scab on this. She was the drive-by victim in all of this — she didn’t deserve any of it, and I feel deeply about that.

“She was the unwitting victim of a fight; she bore the brunt of it and that was terrible.”

THE ADAM GOODES EXPLANATION

If there’s one thing McGuire loves, it’s Collingwood.

In May 2013, Sydney Swans icon Adam Goodes stopped during a game against the Pies at the Melbourne Cricket Ground to point out a spectator who had directed a racial slur his way. At the time, McGuire supported Goodes’ actions and immediately apologised to him, but while commentating a game on radio later that month, he suggested Goodes be used to promote the King Kong musical.

Unsurprisingly, listeners were horrified at the racist connotations associated with that comparison, and McGuire felt the full brunt of Australia’s fury.

“I haven’t really said this before, but I was on massive painkillers and crutches for an infection in my knee,” McGuire told GQ. “I was on heavy-duty painkillers, antibiotics and steroids and had got through, but I was exhausted.

“My major disappointment was that people who had a 180-degree different view of the situation went in to bat for me and I didn’t want anyone to go in to bat for me,” McGuire said.

“As soon as I realised what had happened, I immediately apologised and recanted. I then spent the day doing a press conference and apologising, and then again on air that night.

“The night before, I’d been hosting a function raising $300,000 for indigenous scholarships (as chairman of former AFL star Michael Long’s foundation) ... So I was doing all that and I should have stayed in bed that day.”

The incident clearly still haunts McGuire. “Did I lie awake over the Adam Goodes thing? Does it still rankle with me to this day? Absolutely. It burns me to the core that what I said would add any level of pain to Adam or the indigenous community,” he said.

“I’ve seen Adam once and we shook hands and hugged, and subsequently he said he didn’t know if he could be my friend again — and that’s his prerogative.

“I’d like to think that we would be, one day, and that I prove worthy to him.”

‘IT BREAKS MY HEART’

McGuire settles Sam Newman’s nerves ahead of The Footy Show’s 500th episode.

Another man who’s no stranger to the headlines is McGuire’s good friend Sam Newman. The outspoken Footy Show panellist is far from everyone’s cup of tea, and has courted controversy throughout his media career.

Most recently, the 70-year-old inserted himself into the McGuire-Wilson furore when he told the journalist “the jig’s up” and labelled her “an embarrassment” on live TV.

Anyone who’s seen Newman in full flight on The Footy Show knows he says what he wants, when he wants. But McGuire isn’t so sure, saying his mate doesn’t get to show his true colours on screen.

“It breaks my heart sometimes that he hasn’t really been allowed to show himself on TV in a way that he can,” McGuire told GQ. “He’s unique, highly intelligent and highly respectful.

“He has a great capacity to cut through the political correctness — sometimes he goes too far, but generally he has an opinion and it’s based on scholarship.

“He’s not a dial-a-quote — he thinks deeply about these things and has his position on it. I just hope it’s not too late for him to do some other things — for people to see another side, or an even better side, of Sam.”

Eddie McGuire revisits some of his public embarrassments in this month’s GQ. Picture: Benn Wood/GQ Australia

For those who only know the Newman from TV, McGuire’s comments would no doubt raise an eyebrow, given the string of gaffes the Footy Show panellist had during his time in the media.

He pretended to smoke a bong in 2012, he appeared on the show in blackface in 1999 to impersonate indigenous player Nicky Winmar when some AFL players were facing charges of racial vilification and in 2010 he admitted he hit a golf ball off Uluru — something that would no doubt offend Aborigines who feel it is disrespectful to even set foot on the famous landmark.

He also used a mannequin with a cardboard cut-out of Caroline Wilson’s face to mock her dress sense in 2008.

So it seems a little odd someone with a rap sheet like that could be described as “unique, highly intelligent and highly respectful”, but McGuire is in a better place to make that call than most given the pair’s close relationship.

The August issue of GQ Australia is on sale today. You can become a subscriber by visiting GQ.com.au.

The cover of the latest issue of GQ Australia.