With much anticipation, I rushed home after my Monday night touch football game to catch Denton’s interview with Australia’s allegedly ‘most hated man’, Kyle Sandilands, radio shock jock and Australia idol judge. As much as it pains me to say it, despite my dislike for Sandilands, I felt compelled to see if his radio and TV demeanour really is the be all and end all of this man.
Somewhat sadly, I must report that this is the case.
Denton asked Kyle some probing questions regarding his behaviour on his radio show and his comments regarding people who get put before the idol judges and Kyle’s attempted justification of his actions was less than convincing. Kyle’s justification for outing an employee of the radio station was that it was ‘good for ratings’, stating that it was these kind of stories that people want to hear. A similar justification was given for a somewhat vicious attack on a married man who was caught receiving oral sex from another man, by his son (though one does wonder why the son rang Kyle in the first place to discuss such an issue).
Furthermore, despite what Kyle might have you believe (and believe me, I tried to keep an objective mind), Denton’s body language suggested that he did not wholeheartedly accept what Kyle was saying as gospel. Indeed, it seemed to the viewer that Kyle had merely constructed some myths surrounding his past in order to soften his image, as well as justify his behaviour. He anecdotes just did not ring true for me.
In summary, Kyle Sandilands is still a prick. This interview only showed him as both self-serving with little regard for other people as well gave a hint that his quest for both fame and fortune (and his little regard for morals and socially acceptable behaviour) allows him to be easily manipulated by his employers. In short, he’s a media fall guy, and it is no surprise that he is so reviled.
As my roommate aptly pointed out, Sandiland’s reaction to comedian Dave Hughes’s description of him (i.e. “he’s a dickhead”), despite the fact that Kyle himself frequently employs similar language and sentiment against unknown members of the Australian public on his radio show and his idol appearance simply exposes Sandiland for the hypocrite he is.
Here is a link regarding the interview sourced from the Sydney Morning Herald.