Sam Newman slams neo-Nazi guest Blair Cottrell as fall out over controversial episode continues
AFL personality Sam Newman has launched a scathing attack on neo-Nazi Blair Cottrell, claiming he wasn’t even invited to appear on a recent episode of his controversial podcast.
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AFL personality Sam Newman has launched a scathing attack on neo-Nazi Blair Cottrell, calling him a “24 carat gold scumbag” after he appeared on his controversial podcast.
The tirade comes after Newman interviewed Cottrell and far-right figure Thomas Sewell on his ‘You Cannot Be Serious” podcast on Monday night.
Newman was slammed for the move, with Jewish groups calling the 55-minute episode an “absolute moral collapse”.
In an episode published on Tuesday, Newman claimed Cottrell was not invited to be interviewed but rather turned up with Sewell.
“He bought the other dribbler with him who was just out to make a name for himself,” he said.
“Can’t do it on his own, clings around the stems of stronger plants imbibing their juices.
“He was an interloper … he turned out to be a turd. He turned out to be an opportunist.
“Blair is a scumbag. He’s a 24 carat gold scumbag.”
Newman said Cottrell was a “star f--ker” who tried to link him to “his cause” after he posted a photo of the trio on X.
Newman said Sewell was “respectful” but Cottrell was “deliberately being mischievous”.
“I don’t respect what (Sewell) said, but I respect the fact he was respectful,” he said.
“The other bloke was here just to push his own barrow.
“He should be ashamed of himself just for trying to take this in a direction it was never meant to be. It was just dishonest to push it in that direction.”
But in a lengthy statement posted to X on Tuesday - accompanied with a photo of the pair shaking hands - Cottrell said was invited onto the show by Newman.
“I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to be on the show,” he wrote.
“I jumped in impulsively without even knowing if it was live or recorded.
“Now Sam is apparently declaring me an uninvited interloper and somehow I took advantage of him.
“The actual reason for all the criticism is he naively believed he could interview blacklisted ‘Nazis’ with impunity ... you wanted controversy Sam, and you got it.”
In the episode titled ‘Main Stream Push Back’, Sewell and Cottrell spoke at length about their admiration for Adolf Hitler.
At one point, Newman acknowledged his audience would expect him to cut the episode short, saying: “I probably should stop the interview. We probably should finish this now. People will say, well if that is your attitude and that is the person you look up to, we probably shouldn’t go on with this, but this makes me go on with it even more”.
It comes as Anti-Defamation Commission chairman Dr Dvir Abramovich said because Cottrell was a convicted racist and Sewell had repeatedly performed Nazi salutes, the decision to give them a platform was an “absolute moral collapse”.
“Sam Newman has now plunged into the depths of disgrace, rolling out the red carpet for these men,” he said.
“These two have been accused of being the faces of hatred, and Sam Newman has just handed them legitimacy on a silver platter.
“By giving them a platform, Newman has spat in the face of Holocaust survivors, trampled on the legacy of the courageous diggers who died to defeat Hitler, and insulted every Australian who has fought against bigotry.”
Mr Abramovich said Newman’s actions were “dangerously” and “unforgivably wrong”.
“There is right and there is wrong — and what Sam Newman has done is dangerously, unforgivably wrong.
“He has given these men a megaphone, and in doing so, has disgraced not only himself, but the very game that once made him a household name.
“Sam Newman, your legacy is now rewritten. Not as a sporting great, but as a man who stood with men charged with being vile extremists in Australia.”
Originally published as Sam Newman slams neo-Nazi guest Blair Cottrell as fall out over controversial episode continues
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