The Kyle and Jackie O Show has come under fire for calling three Australian female podcasters “ugly girls”.
Hosts of the Outspoken podcast, Amy, Kate and Sophie Tauber, were at the receiving end of some highly offensive comments during the KIISFM radio show on June 6.
The show’s former executive producer, Bruno Bouchet, mocked the women’s appearances on-air, telling Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O Henderson, that they were “ugly,” to which Kyle added that they looked like ”donkeys”.
What Did Kyle Sandilands Say that Started the Backlash?
ICYMI: During their show on May 18, Kyle revealed that he gets intimate with fiancé Tegan Kynaston before a night out so that his “balls are empty” and doesn’t cheat on her.
Then, speaking about his comments in their May 26 episode of the Shameless podcast, Zara McDonald and Michelle Andrews laughed at the shock jock’s admission, even naming the episode after it with the title: ‘Ladies, Pls Remember: Balls Empty.’
“It’s not good at all, but it’s also so good,” Zara said, before Michelle added: “I know that there is some smart feminist analyst to have here, but we simply don’t need to.”
Shameless and The Kyle and Jackie O Show Joked Back and Forth About the Incident for Weeks
After the initial comments, Bruno responded to Zara and Michelle live on air, poking fun at their podcast.
“A while ago they [the Shameless women] did a list,” he said. “And, you know how I feel about people who do lists that aren’t me. [I’m the] List King.”
Bruno then explained that the list ranking in question was about chocolate, before calling the women “woke feminists.”
In response, Shameless spoke about the mention during their June 4 episode, claiming they hadn’t made a “chocolate list.”
“Bruno hates us,” Michelle said. ”Producer Bruno from Kyle and Jackie O did a seven-minute segment on us. And hates us. Because we stole his list idea and apparently ranked chocolates, which we just never did and now I’m very confused.”
It was so baffling that the two women even named the entire episode after Kyle’s now-manager, calling it: This One’s For Bruno.
Bruno Bouchet Admitted He Had Spoken About the Incorrect Podcast
Then on June 6, after hearing the Shameless segment, Bruno clarified that it was actually a different podcast that did the “chocolate list”.
“I got the entirely wrong podcast,” he admitted. “The one that did this list thing, they were called the Outspoken podcast, which is totally different”.
Due to his error, Kyle and Jackie O suggested that Bruno apologise, which he did, before objectifying both groups of women.
“I mean, I guess I probably owe them an apology… Sorry about that,” Bruno said before Kyle asked if he “hates” the women behind Shameless.
“No, I like them. They’re hot. They’re good. I want to be friends with them,” he responded.
Jackie O then asked whether Bruno only liked them because they’re “hot”, to which Kyle responded: ”Of course, nobody likes a couple of donkeys.”
Bruno seemed to agree, adding: “I’ll be honest, they’re very attractive. But that’s not the reason I like them, just when I looked at their videos I was like, ‘ooh I like that.'”
“So I feel bad, and I’m sorry. I hope we can be friends now. I nearly see it as like we’ve been through something together and now we’re closer. So, I kind of see that we’ll probably go out together for drinks and we’ll probably be friends. And this new podcast, the Outspoken podcast…
“I’m sorry about that, this whole Shameless-gate thing should never have happened. I just wasted everyone’s time.
“Yeah Shameless, sorry for wasting everyone’s time I’m sorry to the hot girls at Shameless and the ugly girls from Outspoken better watch yourselves, you better watch yourselves, because when the big dog comes barking, [you] better watch yourselves.”
Michelle and Zara from Shameless Laughed Off the Misogynistic Comments
During their June 9 show, Michelle and Zara admitted to hearing the segment and comments made by Bruno and thanked him for their glowing mention.
“I also of course listened to our apology on Kyle and Jackie O, dunno if you guys heard it?” Michelle asked her co-host Zara and producer Annabelle Lee.
“It was an interesting apology as far as apologies goes. But we got it! So thank you for the extra minutes on the biggest radio show in the world, Kyle and Jackie O.
“Yeah, we will take any publicity. Any publicity is good publicity, they say!” Zara added.
Then, Zara, Michelle and Annabelle laughed about being referred to as “hot girls”, however, they failed to mention the degrading comments made about Outspoken.
Outspoken Call The Kyle and Jackie O Show and Shameless Out
Following the offensive incident, Outspoken took to Instagram to call out the comments made by Bruno, while also taking a subtle jab at Shameless for ignoring the comments made about their appearances.
“A snippet from Producer Bruno from Monday’s show,” the post from Outspoken read.
“Very disappointing on both fronts. Sad to hear this was Shameless’ response to the segment,” they said, before referring to Shameless “female analysis” comment – and lack thereof.
“It seems like we’ll have to cover the smart female analysis on this one.”
Outspoken shared snippets from both shows which you can listen to below:
Shameless Responds to the Backlash
After being called out by Amy, Kate and Sophie, Shameless were forced to apologise.
First, they left a comment on the Outspoken Instagram page:
“Hey guys, okay first of all we are extremely sorry about this. We didn’t listen to the whole episode… If we knew the segment later called anyone ugly – particularly fellow women in the industry – we would have absolutely spoken about it.
“We tried to convey our awkward feelings about the snippet we’d heard because we felt so objectified, but knowing these later comments have completely shocked us. We are disgusted and don’t stand by it at all.”
Outspoken then replied to Shameless saying it was disappointing they didn’t use their “amazing platform” to call out “this misogyny.”
The comment from Shameless was then met with backlash from fans of Outspoken, with one person questioning: “Isn’t the whole point of journalism to publish the whole story? Why did you only listen to what suited you?”
“You didn’t sound disgusted or shocked?” another said. ”You sounded delighted to be mentioned and called ‘hot.’ Which in itself is super confusing, given that you’re well away or Kyle’s gross behaviour to women in the past/present, having called it out on your very platform many times. Is that all forgotten when you get hyped up? And other women torn down?
“Big pick me girl /mean girl energy. Gleefully enjoying seeing three other successful women being shamed for their looks and maybe doing well in your space. True colours are showing.”
Shameless Were Forced to Apologise Once Again
Then on June 11, Shameless formally apologised to Outspoken on their Instagram page, while calling out Bruno and The Kyle and Jackie O Show.
“Two groups of women – both ourselves and Outspoken – were objectified on live radio,” Michelle and Zara wrote in a lengthy statement.
“It turned out that after discussing Shameless, the women behind Outspoken were also objectified by Bruno. To hear how men talk about how you look on air is humiliating, and we are completely blown away by how gross Bruno was. What Bruno said about Sophie, Amy and Kate was sexist and degrading.”
“What we will never do, though, is be sucked into some kind of ‘feuding women’ narrative. These were comments made by a man, about two sets of women, to hundreds of thousands of people.
“Sexualising a woman in her workplace is never okay, regardless, of whether the comments you make are positive or negative. The fact that we even need to say this in 2022 is maddening.”
You can read the full statement here:
Outspoken then left a comment underneath the post, saying how difficult the last few days had been.
“Last night was really hard for us because it felt like the two biggest podcasts in the country were in on a joke at our expense,” the comment read.
Fans Took to Instagram to Express Their Disgust Over the Comments
Fans of both Outspoken and Shameless, who have a combined Instagram following of over 220,000, have spoken out against The Kyle and Jackie O Show, with some calling for the show to be pulled off the air.
“I can’t with these vile humans anymore. I can’t. They need to be pulled off the air. I just lost my sh*t in my IG stories about the stunt they pulled on the two MAFS girls this morning. I’m absolutely raging,” former MAFS participant Clare Verral wrote.
“The way Jackie O titters along at everything. She just LOVES being allowed to eat the little crumbs at the end of the Big Boy table,” Australian feminist Clementine Ford added.
At the time of publication, Bruno nor The Kyle and Jackie O Show have addressed the incident and subsequent backlash.
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