Australian broadcaster Alan Jones called New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern “gormless,” a “complete clown,” “a joke” and called for Australia’s prime minister, Scott Morrison, to “shove a sock down her throat” over her comments about climate change.
At first, Jones claimed he was “wilfully misinterpreted,” but then within day, he apologized on the air, saying, “I was wrong, and I apologise.” He also called his comments “careless” in an on-air appearance, according to Australian online newspaper The New Daily.
For his part, the Australian prime minister Scott Morrison called the comments “way out of line.”
The Guardian noted that Jones previously has been slammed for his on air remarks, including comments in 2012 saying then-prime minister Julia Gillard was “off her tree” and should be put in a trash bag and taken “out to sea,” and comments in 2012 that Gillard’s father died “of shame” over her.
Last year, Jones apologized for saying the Sydney Opera House CEO should be fired for an advertisement projected on the opera house. Jones admitted listeners thought he was a “bully or a misogynist.”
Also last year, Jones and two radio stations were ordered to pay nearly $3 million U.S. to a family after he claimed on air they were responsible for flood deaths of 12 people.
iMediaEthics has written to Jones’ radio station company Macquarie Media for more information.