Radio shock jock Kyle Sandilands has defended the casting choices of the Australian Idol 2023 judging panel after severe backlash over its lack of diversity.
While the singing competition reboot’s newly announced judges – Harry Connick Jr, Meghan Trainor and Amy Shark – are incredibly talented, it’s hard to deny that there’s somewhat of a whitewash happening here.
In fact, the only confirmed cast member with a more diverse background is Australian Idol alum Ricki-Lee Coulter, who has Māori heritage; however, she will be joined by Aussie co-host Scott Tweedie.
While we admittedly love seeing international celebs appearing on Aussie shows, the current cast is far from representing our multicultural nation.
But Kyle (who was apparently involved in the casting process) reckons he tried to be inclusive, speaking to several POC artists like 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg about appearing on the show. However, he had to look elsewhere due to scheduling conflicts.
Speaking on The Kyle and Jackie O Show, the radio presenter claimed he and the casting team “had fingers in many pies” while searching for the perfect judging panel.
“You can’t say, ‘one judge has got to be a non-binary black person’. That’s not how the real world works. And it shouldn’t,” Kyle claimed.
The father-of-one said roles should go to whoever is “worthy” of the task, whether they be “gay, straight, black, white, non-binary, whatever”. We don’t even know how to start unpacking that statement!
Kyle Sandilands Claims Looking For Diverse Representation on Australian TV Could Be Problematic
Kyle suggested that “hate will continue to grow” if race and gender quotas are reinforced, and “humans should be treated like humans”.
“That’s how we went wrong in the first place. That’s how hate started. ‘That guy, don’t hire him; he’s gay’. That’s how hate starts,” he continued. Maybe send whoever says that to HR and hire the hypothetical gay guy anyway?!
However, he didn’t mention the strict age restrictions that Australian Idol currently has, only seeking contestants between 15 to 28 years old. Très inclusive!
Truly, cheers to the cisgender, heterosexual and wealthy white man for your totally unsolicited input!
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