Ben Simmons blasts 'idiots' at Footy Show while speaking about racism
Ben Simmons (pictured with interviewer Linda Marigliano) is Australia’s top basketball player
Basketball superstar Ben Simmons has sledged the ‘idiots’ on the Footy Show during an anti-racism campaign.
Simmons, who was born in Melbourne but plays for the Philadelphia 76ers, made the comments in a video for the DoMore Project in September – an Australian initiative that challenges racism.
The 24-year-old detailed a number of experiences with racial discrimination, including renewed claims that he was turned away from Crown Casino in Melbourne last year because he is black – a claim the casino fiercely denies.
When asked by interviewer Linda Marigliano if he had encountered backlash for speaking out about his ordeal, he said writers and media workers were the main culprits.
‘They had some people on The Footy Show who were just idiots,’ he added.
‘I don’t know his name.
But it just opened my eyes. I’m old enough to know that’s wrong. For you to say certain things on TV and go about it that way just shows how you are.’
Ben Simmons (pictured with Kendall Jenner in 2019) detailed a number of experiences with racial discrimination
Commentator Kane Cornes who said he was ‘sick of Ben Simmons’ on the Sunday Footy Show in 2019, but it is unclear if that is who he was referring to.
The former AFL star made the comment when he realised Simmons was wearing the colours of a number of different AFL teams.
‘Gee whiz I’m sick of Ben Simmons. Head back to Philadelphia, Simmons,’ Cornes said.
‘Ben, which is it? Pick your team, head off son.’
Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting Cornes’ comments were racist.
Simmons (right) may have been referring to commentator Kane Cornes (left) who said he was ‘sick of Ben Simmons’ on the Sunday Footy Show in 2019.
Simmons’ remarks are not the first accusations against The Footy Show, which has previously attracted criticism and claims of racism.
In June, TV personality and legendary Footy Show host Sam Newman parted ways with Channel Nine after he called George Floyd – whose death while in police custody sparked mass Black Lives Matter protests across the U.S.
– a ‘piece of sh*t’.
Floyd died after he was arrest on May 25 as officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for eight minutes, despite Floyd complaining he could not breathe.
Newman made the comments on his podcast ‘You Cannot Be Serious’, alongside fellow footy great Don Scott and journalist, Mike Sheahan.
In June, TV personality and legendary Footy Show host Sam Newman (pictured) parted ways with Channel Nine after he called George Floyd
‘George Floyd, who is a piece of sh*t incidentally,’ he began before his co-hosts attempted to intervene.
‘You know who George Floyd is?
He has been in jail five times, 카지노사이트 he held up a pregnant black woman with a knife, he’s a drug addict, 우리카지노계열 he’s a crack head and he’s a porn star.’
‘He’s dead because of the police brutality and it never should have happened. But I am telling you who George Floyd is, now they’ve made a monument about him and he’s a piece of sh*t.’
Newman’s contentious comments ignited outrage, with calls for the radio host to be sacked.
Newman slammed George Floyd (pictured right), the inspiration behind the Black Lives Matter movement, on his podcast ‘You Cannot Be Serious’
During a segment on The Footy Show called Pass of Pesos in 2017, an Indigenous man from the crowd threw a football through a hoop and 메리트카지노 won $6,500.
When host Paul Vautin handed him the large novelty cheque, he added: ‘All of your relations in Cairns just went “how good, I can’t wait until he gets back, we’re having a drink”.’
Former indigenous player Joe Williams called Vautin out for ‘racial profiling’.
‘We are sick to death of being labelled as drunks,’ he wrote on Twitter.
Paul Vautin should be stood down and made to publicly apologise to all indigenous people. Racial profiling is racism.’
The basketball player (pictured) also said he has been called ‘the n-word’ and was the subject of racial taunts as a child
While speaking about the Crown Casino incident in 2019, Simmons said: ‘A recent [racism incident] was in Australia when I was back home.’
‘I felt myself and my friends were discriminated against, and were racially profiled.
It was definitely a shock for me.’
He added that it ‘felt good’ to know he had support speaking out about the incident and that he wanted to help others find the courage to speak out.
‘Just because your appearance may be a little different, 카지노사이트 or you’re from somewhere else, it doesn’t matter, he said.
‘You shouldn’t take people being negative, racist toward you, or feel less of a person.’
Simmons added that he feels privileged to be a top athlete in Australia who has the power to speak out
A spokeswoman for Crown Casino previously told Daily Mail Australia that the group ‘strenuously rejects’ Simmons’ claims.
The basketball player also said he has been called ‘the n-word’ and was the subject of racial taunts as a child.
‘Parents yelled all types of things at me when I was playing footy [about] how I looked.
I was bigger than the other kids, I was black,’ he said.
‘Those parents probably weren’t as educated as some people in terms of black experiences.’
Simmons added that he feels privileged to be a top athlete in Australia who has the power to speak out.
