An advertising copywriter has been slammed for being “racist” after she penned a newspaper column to infer controversial tennis star Nick Kyrgios was unAustralian and should be stripped of his citizenship and deported.
Kate Halfpenny runs the Melbourne-based Bad Mother Media, which its website says “gives expert copywriting, editing and content creation from a journalist with three decades’ experience in print, digital, TV and radio”.
Halfpenny wrote an opinion piece titled It’s time to kick Nick Kyrgios off the island that ran in Nine’s SMH and The Age on Friday. You can read Halfpenny’s column in full HERE.
Kyrgios was born in Australia to a Greek father and Malaysian mother.
In her piece, Halfpenny, seemingly fed up with Kyrgios’s much-publicised Wimbledon antics, wrote: “Is there a way to revoke Nick Kyrgios’ Australian passport and kick him off the island, so we can stop being linked to this grub?”
“It’s hard to say what’s been worse at Wimbledon, his cringeworthy on-court theatrics or hypocritical, self-serving press conferences,” Halfpenny wrote.
“On Tuesday, after spitting at hecklers, jeering at officials as ‘snitches’ who were ‘in their nineties’ and having a crack at his nonplussed opponent Paul Jubb, Kyrgios couldn’t shut up about being ‘disrespected’.”
She went on to compare the Aussie ace to “a five-year-old”.
“You’re the big fat centre of your world. You never see the sport which has made you a super-rich household name from the perspective of any other stakeholders,” she wrote.
“Me, me, me! It makes you a narcissist, not a ‘showman’.”
Halfpenny then went on to claim that Kyrgios should be deported. Although gave no factual or legal reason how or why this could happen.
“So, Plan B: Kyrgios surrenders the passport, extinguishes his torch and finds a home more suited to his sensibilities. Like Grub Island, as per Roy and HG’s famous Grub of the Year quest. He’s qualified enough to be mayor,” Halfpenny wrote.
Halfpenny’s column was quickly called out for being offensive and racist.
A senior producer at the ABC studios in Sydney, Tahlea Aualiitia, was first to call out the column describing it as “absolutely disgusting”.
The deputy editor of Pedestrian.TV, Jim Malo, wrote alongside a screenshot of Halfpenny’s column: “A little Friday racism, as a treat.”
Malo added: “Not sure why anyone would think it would be a good idea to write something about revoking the citizenship of a man regularly targeted because of his race. Just leave the c*nt alone. He’s not exactly Australia’s sweetheart but you can criticise him in a non-racialised way.”
ABC reporter Sarah Dingle penned to Twitter: “Nick Kyrgios was born here. What exactly are you suggesting.” She included the hashtag #racism.”
The Guardian’s Josh Butler also wrote: “Even if you don’t like Kyrgios, there are a million ways to make this point without suggesting (twice) he ‘surrenders the passport’.”
Lawyer and CEO of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, Kon Karapanagiotidis wrote: “Not a fan of Kyrgios, but I hate the racism he gets for failing ‘the good grateful ethnic Aussie test’.”
Last night Kyrgios beat American Brandon Nakashima in five sets to move into Wimbledon’s final eight.
Of course, this is the latest drama for Nine’s newspapers following Andrew Hornery’s infamous Rebel Wilson gaff that saw Hornery being accused of trying to ‘out’ Wilson. Hornery ultimately posted an apology but denied he would have ever ‘outted’ Wilson against her wishes.
