Abbie Chatfield has revealed why she thinks fellow The Bachelor Australia alumni Megan Marx and Laura Byrne called her out after she was appointed host of FBOY Island Australia.
ICYMI: Abbie called to “dismantle the patriarchy” after KIIS FM’s Kyle Sandilands and his fill-in co-host Brittany Hockley “slut-shamed” her live on air during an interview with musician Yung Gravy.
Her critics, including Megan and Laura, then suggested it was hypocritical for her to host a show that appears to “encourage men to lie to women and manipulate their emotions”, considering she’s a staunch advocate for abolishing misogyny.
Taking to Instagram in response to backlash over the new gig on December 15, Abbie reiterated that FBOY Island isn’t degrading like some of her critics have assumed. However, she cannot explain the premise in more detail until closer to its airdate in 2023.
In the Insta Story, the 27-year-old said the calibre of people calling her out is “interesting”.
“Isn’t it interesting that the only people having a real issue with this show are people that I’ve called out for being ableist and sexist and quite frankly, mean,” she said.
“It’s interesting this weird retaliation is happening now for a show that has not been filmed yet.”
Abbie Chatfield slams Megan Marx and Laura Byrne for ‘retaliation’ tactics over FBOY Island
Abbie continued to suggest that Megan and Laura wouldn’t have come for her had she not addressed their controversial comments in the past.
“I can guarantee if I hadn’t called out people for their ableist comments or for their slut-shaming, that they wouldn’t be saying anything about it,” she explained.
“What other issues do they speak about? When have you ever heard them speak about any feminist issues that were difficult to speak about? When have you ever heard them speak about any intersectional issues?
“So just think about where your criticism is coming from.”
Abbie then emplored people to wait to pass judgement until after seeing FBOY Island.
“But don’t be opportunistic and try to use this as a way to say, ‘I won’,” the serial reality star said. “You were still sexist. You were still ableist. Well done.”
Further leaning into the idea that her critics are retaliating, Abbie explained that Laura’s “whole issue with this whole thing” wouldn’t have occurred had she not felt “defensive” over Abbie holding her Life Uncut co-host Brittany to account.
Abbie Chatfield issues ‘one final reminder’ about her decision to call people out
The lengthy Story followed a series of slides in which Abbie stood by her decision to stand up for herself.
“One final reminder that defending yourself and dissecting sexist remarks when you are spoken about poorly BY NAME is not ‘attacking’ people,” she penned.
“Slut shaming someone and then calling out people for slut shaming are very different things.”
Abbie then highlighted “another function of patriarchy” evident in this whole debacle, being the way in which people dub women “who question harmful structures” as “bullies” and “hysterical”.
In a subsequent slide, she said it’s “not unreasonable” to speak out when others say “harmful” things.
“If the joke was that my radio show or podcast is sh*t I would have laughed,” she explained. “I can take a joke, I won’t take sexism. They’re different things.”
Why isn’t Abbie Chatfield ‘saying more’ about Kyle Sandilands’ role in the slut-shaming?
Sharing a screenshot of a DM, Abbie explained why she has given up on talking about Kyle’s role in the slut-shaming incident.
The recent The Masked Singer Australia panellist said people are often “confronted” by being called out and “don’t know any actual point as to why I’m wrong”.
“They say, ‘HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO A WOMAN??? YOU AREN’T A REAL FEMINIST’ completely misunderstanding what feminism is…? [sic].”
Abbie continued: “Being a woman doesn’t make you exempt from less than ideal rhetoric and also doesn’t free you from misogyny or from being held accountable.”
She added that “there is no more source material on Kyle”, and nobody arguing his place amid the drama.
“You all unanimously agree that Kyle is slut shaming me here, but some of you are trying to use gender to defend something that was done also by a woman SO I AM EXPLAINING IT TO YOU.”
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