It appears Sky News’ controversial broadcast of an interview with a far-right extremist will not be forgotten anytime soon.
Blair Cottrell’s appearance on The Adam Giles Show on Sunday night left a bad taste in many people’s mouths, with Sky News’ initial apology not enough to stop Craig Emerson from quitting his role as a commentator.
Emerson wasn’t the only one from the Sky News camp who voiced their disapproval of the interview, with political reporter Laura Jayes (pictured above) being vocal from the beginning.
Blair Cottrell is a far right-wing fascist who’s a self confessed Hitler fan. He’s boasted about using “violence and terror” to manipulate women. His rap sheet includes arson, burglary, racial vilification.
He’s not an activist. He’s just an arsehole.
— Laura Jayes (@ljayes) August 5, 2018
Yesterday, Jayes called out a tweet by Cottrell (which has since been deleted) in which the far-right extremist suggested he “might as well have raped” her on-air.
As if to prove my original character assessment…. Blair Cottrell posts (and later deletes) some weird suggestion about raping me on air.
He’s not just a fascist. He’s down right dangerous pic.twitter.com/OwEIy1UpYz
— Laura Jayes (@ljayes) August 6, 2018
Adding to this, American Express is the latest advertiser to cut ties with Sky News, after Luxury Escapes vowed to pull its sponsorship of the show and Virgin Australia said it would launch an internal review.
American Express has made the decision to suspend advertising from Sky News, as recent content on the channel does not reflect our brand values.
— Amex Australia (@AmexAU) August 7, 2018
Outgoing Australian News Channel CEO Angelos Frangopoulos issued a statement apologising for the controversial interview, and has restructured Sky News’ editorial team to avoid something similar from happening again.
