Erin Molan, Daily Mail Australia decision over comments about Pacific Islanders

Molan alleged Daily Mail Australia portrayed her as ‘a racist’, which the publication in its defence argued was substantially true.

A document filed with the Federal Court cited various instances of Molan allegedly engaging in racist behaviour on the show from 2017 to 2020.

March 18, 2017

Ray Hadley: You know what you haven’t done for a long time. You haven’t done all your accents. Have you done for Erin your accents?

Erin Molan: Yeah, show me, show me.

Darryl Brohman: [American accent] How you doin? Sexy lady.

Ray Hadley: Now your Chinese one.

Darryl Brohman: [Chinese accent] Ho herroo… [Erin Molan and others laugh]

Ray Hadley: Japanese? Japanese please. 

Darryl Brohman: Ha oh double herroo… [others laugh]

Ray Hadley: It’s the same.

Darryl Brohman: [Indian accent] No, thank you very much. [others laugh]

Erin Molan: Someone will write in now and say we’re being racist. I think it’s hilarious.

April 1, 2017

Ray Hadley: And now, why don’t we have a conversation with Darryl doing his Chinese and Erin doing her Chinese. God you’re so good looking.

Erin Molan: Herro, I wery goo looking [unclear] [in Chinese accent]. 

Ray Hadley: Just do one for me ‘I love you long time’, just do that for me.

Erin Molan: I wuv you wery long tiyme, wery handsome man, ohhh, you like to walk with me in a circle. [in Chinese accent] [Erin Molan and others laugh] I don’t know what that means.

July 1, 2017

Mark Levy: Mate I went up on Parramatta road yesterday. I said to the Indian bloke, I said ‘Ched…wash me car, don’t take me money’. [Others laugh]

Erin Molan: You can’t say that.

Mark Levy: What do you mean I can’t say it? He was an Indian bloke. [Erin Molan laughs]

Bob Fulton: What did he say to you? What did he say? We need an accent here. [Erin Molan and others laugh]

Erin Molan: That’s where you’ll get in trouble. [Erin Molan and others laugh]

April 19, 2017

In a discussion of the popularity of the Fijian name ‘Nakubuwai’, Molan suddenly started singing 1961 song The Lion Sleeps Tonight.

March 17, 2018

Erin Molan: Oh yor soh goo [Asian accent] [Erin Molan and others laugh] 

Erin Molan: You like raw feesh… [Asian accent] [Erin Molan and others laugh] Sorry, was that racist?

Bob Fulton: Yeah… it wasn’t good.

August 18, 2018

Erin Molan: [American accent] Hello, hello y’all, hello. Hello and welcome to Channel Nine Football right here on Channel Nine. It’s Saturday night everybody. Get your party hats on ye-haw. [Asian accent] Like a tyga. Like a tyga.

Bob Fulton: What? You’ve gone Indian?

Erin Molan: [Asian accent] I like your hair.

Bob Fulton: We’ve got an American Indian. [Erin Molan and others laugh]

Mark Levy: [stereotypical native American war cry]

Erin Molan: I don’t know what’s PC or not anymore. I can’t laugh. [Erin Molan laughs]

Mark Levy: Stuff the PC brigade. That’s what we’re saying. [Erin Molan laughs]

September 8, 2018

During a discussion on pronouncing Maori names, with many instances of the hosts making allegedly crude jokes about them: 

Erin Molan: It’s Foo-seh-too-a-ya-ya-ya. 

[…]

Darryl Brohman: So what about his surname, what do you call him, Kata or Katar. 

Erin Molan: Qatar is a city in the middle east. 

Ray Hadley: It’s Kwi-tar. [Erin Molan laughs]

Erin Molan: Same difference.

May 18, 2019

Discussing a trip she and Brohman took to Bali, Molan put on an ‘Indonesian’ accent to describe being approached at the beach by local women offering massages.

Darryl Brohman: ‘Haaa I got the saucy guy so goo, so big’ [in Asian accent] [Erin Molan and others laugh]. 

Erin Molan: Ray, I’ve been at the beach with Big Marn when they’ve approached and it was more like ‘ohhh loo big Aussie mahn, we charge four time amountttt’. [in Asian accent] [Erin Molan and others laugh]

Ray Hadley: I know what you would have said ‘hey girls, we want 8 of you over here, one start that end, the other start this end’, ‘we found one over here’, ‘this will be a all-dayer’ [Erin Molan and others laugh]

Darryl Brohman: Not necessarily. [Erin Molan and others laugh]. As soon as I got there Ray it was like a moth to the plague wasn’t it.

Erin Molan: It’s because ‘yore big whyte Aussie mahn. You sucka’. [in Asian accent]

July 13, 2019

Darryl Brohman: I say… ‘Dat fity dolla, you like, like free bowl with it, that fityfive. Fityfive dolla.’ [Asian accent]

Erin Molan: [Erin Molan laughs] It’s not free. If it’s 55, it’s not free.

Darryl Brohman: They won’t know! They’re putting it on a credit card. [Erin Molan and others laugh]

Bob Fulton: That’s fraud! [Erin Molan and others laugh]

Darryl Brohman: ‘Dat fityfive dolla, fityfive dolla if you want special.’

August 10, 2019

Darryl Brohman: I can do Chinese Survivor.

Erin Molan: Go do it then [Erin Molan laughs]

Mark Levy: Go on, Chinese….come on.

Darryl Brohman: [Oriental music playing in background] ‘Pwevioshly on Shurvivor…Chinese Shurvivor….’ [Chinese accent] [Erin Molan laughs] Ah cookie boy… Look at dis guy… Look at dis [unclear] [Chinese accent] [Erin Molan and others laugh]

Mark Levy: You’ve got to speak Chinese! Not a cross!

Erin Molan: Ching-hao [Chinese accent] [Erin Molan and others laugh]

Darryl Brohman: Look at dis bloke… You gotta climb dat pole…he can’t get up that pole. It’s a gweasy pole. He can’t get up, he’s a big fatty…should be doing some westling. [Chinese accent] [Erin Molan laughs]

Bob Fulton: Hey cookie boy [others laugh].

Erin Molan: What about Indian Survivor?

Darryl Brohman: Ooh, thank you very much. [Indian accent] [Erin Molan and others laugh]

August 24, 2019

Darryl Brohman: Gonna put a big nappy on so I look like a sumo and say ‘come and get it! Big Marn’s Chinese Cookbook!’ 

Ris is your cookbook…. Rou Ranna Row How to Cook stuff….Get this crookbook [Chinese accent] [Erin Molan and others laugh] 

[…] 

Bob Fulton: What about…. Special fwi wice… [Chinese accent] [Erin Molan and others laugh] 

Darryl Brohman: Wong-tong? Wong-tong? Wong-tong, gong-kong and pork-kong? [Chinese accent] [Others laugh] 

 […]

Erin Molan: Now we’re all talking like Ohhh…you no….bad boy….you naughty….dwop your pen [Erin Molan laughs]…..pick up your chopstick [Asian accent] 

[…] 

Darryl Brohman: Well mine’s gonna be MSG free because I don’t know what it is.

Erin Molan: No but you don’t want that. That’s the only thing that makes it taste like takeaway Chinese is the MSG in it. 

I can tell your cookbook ain’t gonna go well if it’s got no MSG. MSG’s what makes it taste good. That’s the goodness of the takeaway.

October 5, 2019

Ray Hadley:  I ran into Chris Warren during the week… he was practising the names for the women’s premiership grand final tomorrow, Darryl, that he’ll be calling.

Darryl Brohman: Mate… because… they get him on….I think Middo tells Rabs and then Rabs tells Chris, then they have correspondence between each other….

‘Dad, how do you spell Cooka-ducka-dacka-do? I mean, how do you say it dad?’ [Erin Molan laughs]

‘Well, Middo told me it’s cooka-toka-tonka-loss’

‘Well I don’t think it is dad. I think it’s cooka-toka-lucka-loo’ [Erin Molan and others laugh]

‘Let me check with Middo. Goodbye’

Darryl Brohman: ‘David. Rabs Warren. Can you tell me how to pronounce this gentleman, number 16 in the program. The Big League program that is.’

‘That’s Cooka-tacka-tacka-li’ [Erin Molan laughs]

‘No it’s not it’s Cooka-tacka-tacka-lee’ [Erin Molan laughs]

Darryl Brohman: ‘Well my son Chris say’s it’s Cooka-tucka-luck. Which one do you think we should go with? David?’ [Erin Molan laughs]

‘I don’t know Rabs. What do you want to go with?’ [Erin Molan laughs]

‘I’m going Cooka-tucka-lacka-lacka-lee’ [Erin Molan laughs] 

Erin Molan: Tooka-looka-… [ Erin Molan and others laugh]

April 5, 2020

When Daily Mail Australia asked Molan about her ‘hooka looka’ outburst, she said she was referencing this broadcast.

Brohman told an exaggerated story about a debate between father and son commentators, Ray and Chris Warren.

The pair was debating how to pronounce the name of reserve Manly forward of Tongan decent, Haumole Olakau’atu.

Darryl Brohman: He had a name with about 30 letters in it, and I had trouble pronouncing it and I said to Chris ‘Mate, how do you pronounce this bloke’s name?’

He said, ‘Well Dad and I have been discussing this today because Dad’s down about in his luxurious box a little bit down the road…’

I said, ‘Well what happened?’

He said ‘Well dad thought his name was Chooka-lucka-loo-loo, but I said no, no, no, Dad, I think it’s Chooka-lucka-loo-loo-loo-loo’ [Erin Molan and others laugh]

He says, ‘Chris, that’s incorrect. It’s Chooka-kaloola-loolalo’ [Erin Molan and others laugh]

He says, ‘Well, I’m not so sure Dad. The way I look at its Chooka-kalala-looliew’ [Erin Molan and others laugh]

I said, ‘Well, it’s a hell of a predicament we’ve got ourselves in here.’ [Erin Molan and others laugh]

He says, ‘I’ll just go check with Dad again’.

‘Dad?’

‘Yes Chris?’

‘Is it Chooka-kalooloo-laloo?’ [Erin Molan and others laugh]

He said, ‘No. It’s Chooka-kaloola-looloo-loola’ [Erin Molan and others laugh]. So I’m going with that today Big Marn.’

He said, ‘okay what’s name? Let’s just call him Sebby…’ [Erin Molan and others laugh]

This story was repeated in a shorter form on April 12, 2020, and Molan joined in saying: ‘What was the name again? Pooka-pocka-pooka-pa?’

April 12, 2020

Erin Molan: Hey, Rabs, last week, Big Marn told a very funny story about you and Chris and an interaction you had when you both called from the same ground. 

Darryl has been known to exaggerate a little bit so what I’d love now, if this is okay with you, Levy, as the host, is for Darryl to retell that story and Rabs you to tell us afterwards the level of accuracy from 0 to 10. Would that be okay?

Ray Warren: Whatever you want, Erin.

The April 5 story was then retold in much the same way as the original

Later on April 12, 2020

Darryl Brohman: When you go to a service station, are you like me, do you go to that service station all the time through thick and thin?

Mark Levy: Yep. Solid as a rock.

Darryl Brohman: I do as well. I even know the bloke there now, he’s a beautiful bloke. He’s Indian. But he’s a really good bloke.

Erin Molan: Is there only one?

Darryl Brohman: I said ‘how are you going mate?’ He said ‘oh, very good thank you very much’ [Indian accent]

Erin Molan: Oh, Darryl. [Erin Molan laughs] You can’t…

Darryl Brohman: That’s how he talks.

Mark Levy: I’m very loyal to my service station as well. And yes, Darryl, my service station attendant is Indian and he thinks my name is Russell.

Erin Molan: Can I just ask everyone how do you know they’re Indian?

Mark Levy: Because I’ve had a conversation with him…

Erin Molan: He could be Pakistani….

Mark Levy: No, he’s Indian.

Darryl Brohman: There’s a difference. [Erin Molan laughs]

Erin Molan: I know there’s a difference. 

 

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