Steve Price links Ben Simmons Crown incident to financing for Adam Goodes documentary

Steve Price has linked Ben Simmons’ Crown Casino incident to his role in a new Adam Goodes documentary in a shock suggestion.

2GB broadcaster Steve Price has suggested basketballer Ben Simmons doubled down on claims of racial profiling at Crown Casino in order to boost prospects for a documentary about Adam Goodes he helped to finance.

During his show on Tuesday, The Project host raised the question of whether Simmons was using the Crown incident as a marketing opportunity for his film.

Simmons, Price alleged, is a financier and executive producer of an Adam Goodes documentary that he wants screened in the US market.

“He is an executive producer of a second documentary made about the indigenous footballer Adam Goodes, called The Australian Dream,” Price said.

“In fact Ben Simmons was a financier of that film and paid for that film to be made and intends to take that film to America and show it to American audiences.

“I wonder if this incident at the door of Crown has anything to do with a message that Ben Simmons might like to get out in America about how Australians treat people of colour?

“What better way to get your documentary noticed in America, than to post to your 1.47 million Instagram followers?”

Simmons actually has 4.3 million followers on Instagram.

#TheAustralianDream World Premiere at @MIFFofficial with #AdamGoodes @StanGrantMOF @MickOLoughlin and @BenSimmons25 #WalkTogether pic.twitter.com/wrF6afr02c

— The Australian Dream (@AusDreamFilm) August 1, 2019

The production company involved in the making of the film denied any claim that Simmons provided financial support in a statement to news.com.au.

“Ben Simmons is an executive producer but he did not finance the film. He came on board in the final stages of the film’s production and as such his involvement did not extend to providing financial support for the production,” the statement read.

Price was joined by Herald Sun columnist Rita Panahi for the show and she too slammed Simmons for what she claimed was pushing an agenda of racial intolerance.

“I like this theory that you are putting forward in relation to the Goodes doco and pushing this relentless narrative that we are racially intolerant, we have this deep-seated problem and we refuse to acknowledge it,” Panahi said.

“Australia will be painted as a racist backwater.

“It’s so destructive. It paints such a false, ugly picture of Australia.”

Panahi did acknowledge racism occurs but rubbished Simmons’ claims.

“There is still real racism in Australia. That, we need to acknowledge, not nonsense like this,” she added.

“He seems to be afflicted by this racial politics that everyone in the US has gone nuts with where they see everything with a filter of race.”

The treatment of Adam Goodes at the hands of fans and the AFL has recently been under the spotlight following two documentaries, The Final Quarter and The Australian Dream.

A screening of The Final Quarter on Channel 10 last month sparked a national conversation about race in Australia, with many claiming it was “embarrassing” the way Goodes was treated and required a major national reckoning.

As the media firestorm surrounding the incident at Crown Casino reached its nadir on Tuesday, Simmons spent the day kicking the Sherrin at Richmond’s Punt Road Oval and taking a break to grant a wish for the Make a Wish Foundation.

You’re always welcome at Tigerland, @BenSimmons25 😏 pic.twitter.com/IEo52a3rhR

— Richmond FC 🐯 (@Richmond_FC) August 6, 2019

He also broke his silence on the issue that started with him posting an Instagram video.

In it, Melbourne-born Simmons took aim at security who he claimed turned him and his friends away because of their skin colour.

“I find it so crazy that the only guy who doesn’t get checked to go into the casino is this guy,” Simmons said in the video, before turning the camera on a white person.

“I get checked, Mike gets checked and Tys gets checked. Thank you Crown Casino, damn, and they didn’t let me in, or him or this guy. Wow, we got a long way to go.”

On Tuesday, despite reports that he was refused entry for not showing his ID, Simmons stood firm in his beliefs.

“As you know an incident happened last night at Crown and my friends and I felt personally singled out, no one likes to feel like this. I am very passionate about equality and I will always speak up even if it means having uncomfortable conversations,” Simmons tweeted.

As you know an incident happened last night at Crown and my friends and I felt personally singled out, no one likes to feel like this. I am very passionate about equality and I will always speak up even if it means having uncomfortable conversations.

— Ben Simmons (@BenSimmons25) August 6, 2019

Basketball legend Andrew Gaze told The Herald Sun that if what Simmons had reported was accurate, he was to be commended.

“If it is correct, I say well done Ben for having the courage to speak out,” he said.

“Clearly we need more information to see what has transpired.

“I have great concerns if we are racially profiling, that is something we stand against as a community and a nation.

“It doesn’t matter how much you are paid, anyone that is confronting a situation with racial undertones, more power to him to speak out against it.”

Crown Casino denied any racial profiling goes on in their casinos and rejected Simmons’ side of the story.

“Crown strenuously rejects reports that it discriminated against a group of visitors last night,” a spokeswoman told news.com.au.

She said Simmons and his friends were asked for identification because they looked young.

“Crown’s internal security policy requires our security officers to check identification of those persons they believe to be under the age of 25, this is an enhanced safeguard to ensure that no one under the age of 18 is permitted entry to the Casino floor as required by law.

“The group subsequently provided identification and were permitted entry.

“Crown is an inclusive workplace.”