UFC boss Dana White throws wild punch at SMH editor Bevan Shields
In round one, the Herald editor left his readers in no doubt about his views on ‘grubby’ UFC. Now in round two, the sport franchise’s colourful global boss has returned a left hook.
UFC president Dana White has lashed out at the Australian media following criticism of the sport from The Sydney Morning Herald editor Bevan Shields, calling Aussie journos “the biggest p***ies I have seen in the media in my life”.
At a media conference in Sydney on Sunday, White appeared to reference Shields’ remarks on Friday in his subscriber newsletter, in which he described UFC as “barbaric,” “repulsive,” and a “circus” filled with a “web of grubby characters”.
Shields’ newsletter, titled ‘Watching our premier chat to UFC boss Dana White made me physically sick’, questioned the NSW government’s decision to invest $16 million in last weekend’s UFC event in Sydney. It was met with a characteristically lippy response from White.
“I saw a story where a guy was like,” White said, before adopting a mockingly plaintive voice, “‘I saw Dana do a podcast with the Premier and it physically made me sick.’” He added: “Holy f*****g s**t, you guys have to have the biggest p**ies of all time in the media here.”
“For a place that is so tough — everything on land, in the water can kill you — you have the biggest p**ies I have seen in the media in my life.”
White also dismissed concerns about the presence of firebrand UFC fighter Sean Strickland, who last week criticised Australia’s gun laws and described the government as “communist.”
“I’m a big believer in free speech,” White said, before doubling down on his criticism of the Australian press. “It probably seems worse when you come here because your media are such weak human beings. I thought we had weak media. You guys win, hands down.”
After reading Shields’ diatribe, White offered his own verdict: “That guy’s gotta be the biggest wimp on planet Earth.”
When Shields announced a few weeks back that the famous masthead was establishing a bureau in Parramatta – the unofficial capital of western Sydney – he pushed the idea that Australia’s biggest city is “undergoing a rapid transformation and we should be part of it”.
“We can no longer adequately cover a thriving part of the city from offices in North Sydney. Parramatta is the geographical heart of Sydney but we don’t have a presence there. This strategy will also allow us to better reflect the diversity of our city,” Shields declared on January 23.
But no sooner had the people of western Sydney stopped dancing in the streets after Shields had outlined his brave vision to embrace the region, he revealed his true colours with his very own Hillary Clinton basket-of-deplorables moment.
In his semi-regular Friday afternoon email to SMH subscribers – helpfully titled “A note from the editor’’ – Shields tipped a bucket on the UFC, or Ultimate Fighting Championship, the US-owned mixed martial arts company that was preparing to stage an event in Sydney on Sunday afternoon.
For the uninitiated, UFC is an outrageously popular sport around the globe, particularly among young men. It’s also huge in western Sydney, which is where Sunday’s fights were held.
Shields also took a swing at Minns for stumping up $16m to assist the UFC stage its weekend event in Sydney – an amount that will surely be dwarfed by the economic returns that the “circus” will pour into the state’s coffers.
We get it, Bevan. UFC is not your jam. That’s OK.
But there are plenty who love it, and there are certainly a whole lot of people from western Sydney who follow it and don’t need an inner-city newspaper editor talking down to them about what they like to follow in their spare time.
Of course, there was this caveat in Shields’ subscriber email: “If people want to go to these events, good luck to them. I make no judgment about their decision. But I do question the wisdom of spending taxpayer funding on the glorification of violence.”
It all sounds pretty judgey to us.
Shields had back-up, though – star SMH columnist Peter FitzSimons also got in on the act with an opinion piece in Saturday’s edition bemoaning the existence of the “appalling” sport. Remember, this is the same guy that in 2009 wrote a glowing biography of Australian boxer Les Darcy. Boxing! So much nobler than UFC, eh Fitz? We’re struggling to follow the narrative here!
It should also be pointed out that it’s not just UFC that grinds the gears of the SMH editor. As Diary reported in December, Shields hates cricket, too!
“As we head into another summer of cricket, I have a confession to make: I’m not a massive fan,” he told his cricket-adoring subscribers.
Diary is looking forward to Shields’ next instalment of “How to alienate the current and future SMH subscribers in one easy email’’.
No rush on Nine CEO
It’s been 152 days since Mike Sneesby announced he was stepping down as Nine chief executive officer after what he described a “challenging year”. What a sublime understatement, Diary thought at the time.
As Mr Sneesby rode off into the sunset, the company made all the right noises about undertaking a global search for a successor, etc etc, and in the meantime handed the reins to chief financial officer Matt Stanton.
It soon emerged that Stanton was the genuine internal candidate for the position, and as for any international candidates, they appeared to be thin on the ground. Or perhaps even non-existent.
Before Christmas, the chatter coming out of the Nine bunker was while the media giant would take its time before locking in a replacement for Sneesby, it was reasonable to expect that the appointment might be made on or around February 25 – the same day as the release of the company’s half-yearly results.
Diary is now reliably informed that there is indeed “no rush” to engrave the initials CEO on anyone’s door at the company’s North Sydney headquarters, and it’s highly unlikely that the new guy or gal will be formally announced before the end of this month.
We wonder how Stanton feels about this.
He’s done a good job since assuming the (interim) position on September 30, and has been proactive in at least starting to address the many problematic issues that arose form the devastating Intersection report, which found Nine had a toxic workplace culture, beset by harassment, bullying and abuses of power.
Surely he can’t be happy to wear the training wheels for too much longer.
Or is Nine’s board considering the merits of an 11th hour candidate?
Lattouf parade rolls on
Tuesday should see former ABC chair Ita Buttrose make her long-awaited appearance at the unfair dismissal case of fill-in presenter Antoinette Lattouf.
While Lattouf’s daily entrances to the court last week captured all the media attention, rest assured that 83-year-old Buttrose will be the star of the show when it’s her turn to show at the Federal Court.
Thousands of viewers logged on to watch the live feed of the court hearing on YouTube each day last week, and Lattouf was positioned in camera shot – directly behind her barrister Oshie Fagir.
For long stretches at a time, Lattouf’s head was buried in her phone, which is generally considered a bit of a no-no in court.
But Lattouf’s scrolling didn’t seem to bother Justice Darryl Rangia.
Sometimes court hearings can drag on a bit, even when you’re the subject of proceedings.
Hello Hal
Trade media bomb thrower Tim Burrowes has struck again.
Following his deal with InterMedia which saw him merge his Unmade newsletter with his former home Mumbrella, publisher, journalist, and podcaster Burrowes has hired former chief news officer at MediaWorks New Zealand, Hal Crawford, to the new position of editorial director at Mumbrella Media. Crawford, who reports for work today, started his media journey at The West Australian, then worked in radio in Europe before joining nineMSN where he racked up a decade of service.
It was during that tour of duty he shared his knowledge of the changing media world in the 2015 book, All Your Friends Like This – How Social Networks Took Over News.
After four years in New Zealand, Crawford launched his own media consultancy.
He quit Mediaworks in 2019 after it put its TV business on the market.
That included the Newshub division which was part of Crawford’s remit.
Crawford railed against the dominance of TVNZ in that market.
He wrote at the time: “[TVNZ] can do whatever they like to not make a buck. They will never fold, because they are 100 per cent state-owned.
“Being one of their competitors, I’m angry about this.
“I’m angry that the market for television advertising in New Zealand is distorted by this bizarre, anti-competitive set up.”
The Australian detailed earlier this week how crowded the trade media space is getting with another player arriving.
Johns’ Nova deal
Former rugby league player turned media star Matty Johns and his wife Trish have signed up the family’s media business to Nova Podcasts.
Johns Media has entered an exclusive commercial partnership with the audio group for Backstage with Cooper & Matty Johns and The Johns Family Podcast.
Matty Johns, Trish and sons Cooper and Jack have built a business off the back of their two weekly audio shows.
The Johns Media deal is separate to other Johns family radio side hustles which include Matty’s SEN show Morning Glory, which he co-hosts with The Australian’s Andrew Webster.
Cooper also appears as a regular on ARN’s The Kyle and Jackie O Show.
Backstage with Cooper & Matty Johns drops every Monday on podcast platforms.
The series has released close to 40 episodes with recent guests including NRL great and broadcaster Laurie Daley, cricketer Mitchell Starc and actor Angus Sampson.
In the next few weeks, Matty and Cooper will travel to Las Vegas for the NRL season launch. They will record a number of episodes including separate chats with Matty’s Fox Sports co-hosts Nathan Hindmarsh and Bryan Fletcher.
The Johns Family podcast drops new episodes every Friday. The podcast, which is recorded from their home studio, started during Covid when the family was housebound.
The Matty Johns Podcast, a spin-off of his weekly Fox Sports show, is already available through Nova Podcasts.
The deal will see Nova Entertainment’s chief commercial officer Nicole Bence take the podcasts to market.
Fun on the Goldie
Television and film executives gravitated to the Gold Coast at the end of last week for the ambitious AACTA Festival, promising “five unforgettable days packed with experiences celebrating the best of film, television, and digital media”.
Nestled into that schedule were the annual AACTA Award events – the Industry Awards (Wednesday) and the more mainstream AACTA Awards (Friday).
Netflix had an impressive 32 nominees for Awards, and held what was the major Gold Coast AACTA party at the beachfront Langham Hotel.
The crowd at the Langham included a who’s who of the television and film industry.
Working the room, after attending afternoon sessions at the AACTA Conference, was incoming Nine Entertainment managing director of streaming and broadcast, Amanda Laing.
Back in Australia after an overseas sojourn, Laing was at the AACTA week on her own dime. With a bit of work to be done at Nine on restructuring perhaps before Laing’s first day back at Nine, she is not yet confirming her starting date.
Hosting the Netflix guests were the streamer’s executives Debra Richards and Nathan Burman.
The creators and cast of Apple Cider Vinegar were celebrating the release of their series about Belle Gibson, which went live globally as the party started.
Joining them were Screen Australia CEO Deirdre Brennan, Screen Queensland CEO Jacqui Feeney, talent manager and TV producer Kevin Whyte, many TV producers including Jo Porter, Tony Ayres, Charlie Aspinwall, and Bruna Papandrea.
Author of the multi-award-winning Netflix series Boy Swallows Universe Trent Dalton was also attending with some of the cast from the series.
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