Kyle Sandilands comes under fire for calling monkeypox a 'big gay disease' in wild segment - as KIIS FM defends shock jock's 'colourful' comments
- Kyle Sandilands is under fire for joking that monkeypox is 'a big gay disease that only the gays get'
- The KIIS FM radio host made the comments during a wild segment about the viral disease on Tuesday
- He spoke to two gay men and a doctor about monkeypox and its vaccine
- The Kyle and Jackie O Show host's comments were dismissed as just 'colourful vernacular' by network bosses
- Some listeners took to social media to call the comments 'absolute ignorance'
The Australian Radio Network (ARN) has defended Kyle Sandilands after the KIIS FM host was slammed for joking about monkeypox.
Sandilands, 51, was criticised for referring to monkeypox as 'a big gay disease that only the gays get' on Tuesday's edition of The Kyle and Jackie O Show.
His commentary caused a stir among some on social media on Saturday after being called out in a newspaper column.
The Australian Radio Network (ARN) has defended Kyle Sandilands (pictured) after the KIIS FM host was slammed for joking about monkeypox this week
ARN management responded to the criticism in a statement, chalking Sandilands' comments down to his 'colourful vernacular'.
'Kyle is renowned for his colourful vernacular,' an ARN spokesperson said.
'We appreciate that those unaccustomed to his expressions may consider the content opinionated, and the range of topics discussed on the show are not to everyone’s taste.'
During the segment on Tuesday, Sandilands encouraged openly gay KIIS FM newsreader Brooklyn Ross to get vaccinated against monkeypox.
When Ross said he wasn't planning on getting the shot because he was in a committed relationship, Sandilands said he was 'rolling the dice'.
'What's wrong with you gays?' he said, before joking that Ross' longtime boyfriend Damien could be unfaithful, putting the newsreader at risk.
The shock jock then got Damien to call in to the studio to discuss the topic further.
Sandilands, 51, was criticised for referring to monkeypox as 'a big gay disease that only the gays get' on Tuesday's edition of The Kyle and Jackie O Show
After speaking to Damien and urging him to get vaccinated, Sandilands then phoned the show's medical expert Dr Sam Hay, known as Dr KIIS, for professional medical advice on monkeypox and the vaccine.
'Is it true that if you eat bananas, your chance of getting monkeypox skyrockets?' Sandilands quipped, before bursting into laughter.
At one point, he also joked that Dr KIIS should turn away monkeypox patients.
'If I was a doctor, I'd put a sign up, "No monkeypox patients admitted." I think you can do whatever you want as a doctor,' he said.
'You don't have to have every Tom, Dick, and bloody dirty monkeypox victim coming in there, do ya?'
'Is it true that if you eat bananas, your chance of getting monkeypox skyrockets?' Sandilands asked, before bursting into laughter
The father-of-one also joked that he 'wasn't letting any gays' near his newborn son Otto.
In a column for Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday, gossip reporter Andrew Hornery wrote that Sandilands had 'deeply offended the marginalised groups he claims to have long championed, including gay men'.
Sandilands was also criticised on social media, with one listener tweeting: 'He was semi-joking but at no point did he clarify this so [it] inflamed the stigma with his audience.'
'His monkeypox comments show his absolute ignorance and incorrect belief that it’s not already circulating among non-gay men,' tweeted another.
Newspaper gossip columnist Andrew Hornery (pictured) wrote that Sandilands had 'deeply offended the marginalised groups he claims to have long championed, including gay men'
Last month the World Health Organisation called on gay and bisexual men to consider limiting their sexual partners to reduce the spread of monkeypox.
Advising people on the steps they could take to avoid the virus, its director Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said: 'For men who have sex with men, this includes, for the moment, reducing your number of sexual partners, reconsidering sex with new partners, and exchanging contact details with any new partners to enable follow-up if needed.'
Experts said the WHO was right to issue the warning at the time, as most cases were being spotted in the LGBT community. But they cautioned it was also important to ensure one group was not singled out.
The virus — spread via physical touch and scabs — can just as easily spill over into other groups.
During the segment on Tuesday, Sandilands encouraged openly gay KIIS FM newsreader Brooklyn Ross to get vaccinated against monkeypox. Sandilands is pictured with Ross and two of their friends
Sandilands has been an outspoken supporter of the LGBT community for years.
Last year, he banned NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet from The Kyle and Jackie O Show over the conservative catholic politician's anti-gay marriage stance.
'How can someone run a state like New South Wales and be anti-abortion and anti-gay rights,' he raged on-air at the time.
In 2018, he and co-host Jackie 'O' Henderson attended the Sydney Gay And Lesbian Mardi Gras with Ross.
They appeared on the KIIS FM float together, with Sandilands dyeing his beard pink and covering himself in glitter.
In 2017, he angrily blasted Australian rugby star Israel Folau for saying that gay people will 'go to hell unless they repent for their sins'.
In 2018, he and co-host Jackie 'O' Henderson attended the Sydney Gay And Lesbian Mardi Gras with Ross and Imogen Anthony. All pictured
Sandilands labelled the footballer 'a c**k' and an 'idiot' and compared Folau's comments to 'a hate crime'.
'Let's just get one thing straight, just because you believe one thing doesn't mean you can go pushing your dopey ideas out on others... young gay kids hear rubbish!' he raged at the time.
That same year, Sandilands savaged a 'homophobic' caller after they claimed homosexual couples having kids was 'the pinnacle of cruelty.'
'Well you are a f**kwit,' he clapped back, promptly terminating the call.
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