Erin Molan has been accused of being ‘complicit to racism’ by mocking the names of Pacific Islander NRL players on radio.
Molan, 36, put on on accent as she said ‘hooka looka mooka hooka fooka’ during a discussion about how to pronounce players’ names on Saturday’s ‘Continuous Call’ football show on 2GB.
Molan claimed the statement was an ‘in-joke’ between the commentators – despite fellow hosts Darryl Brohman and Mark Levy remaining silent after her comments.
‘What? I’m not sure what she said there,’ a confused Brohman said about Molan’s comments, before Levy quickly moved on to an unrelated topic.
However, Jemaima Tiatia-Seath, the co-head of the University of Auckland’s Māori Studies and Pacific Studies department, said Molan’s ‘hooka looka mooka fooka’ jibe should not be excused as a joke.
She said commentators not being able to pronounce the names of Polynesians – who now represent about 45 per cent of players in the National Rugby League competition – was unacceptable.
‘It is the role of any commentator to owe respect to a name,’ Dr Tiatia-Seath told Daily Mail Australia.
‘To some it was “only just a joke, don’t take yourself too seriously” but to us, it’s a sign of disrespect.
‘The fact that it was joked about in the public sphere, it shows we have a long way to go in changing attitudes and beliefs. It’s being complicit towards racism. Enough is enough.’
Erin Molan (pictured left) appeared to mock the names of Pacific Islander NRL players live on 2GB radio’s The Continuous Call on Saturday
Dr Tiatia-Seath added an individual’s name carries ‘Mana’, which is regarded as a spiritual force to Polynesian people.
‘In a name, an individual carries with them their family, their histories, and their memories,’ she said.
Molan faced backlash on Twitter for her comments, which come at a time of heightened awareness about race and inequality following the death George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, in Minneapolis police custody.
His death has led to series of Black Lives Matter protests across the U.S. and the globe.
Jemaima Tiatia-Seath (pictured), from the school of Māori Studies and Pacific Studies at the University of Auckland, said Molan’s mispronunciation could not be excused as a joke. ‘To some ”it was only just a joke, don’t take yourself too seriously” but to us it’s a sign of disrespect,’ she told Daily Mail Australia
ABC Radio Australia presenter Tali Aualiitia also criticised Molan for her ‘white privilege’
Journalist Scotty Stevenson also criticised Molan for mocking players’ names
One Twitter user wrote: ‘Don’t post an Instagram story for George Floyd but then go and mock Pacific Islander’s names.
‘YOU ARE THE PROBLEM BABE. False morality.’
ABC Radio Australia presenter Tali Aualiitia also criticised Molan for her ‘white privilege’.
‘Erin Molan works in rugby league and there are a bloody lot of Pacific players. It’s literally her job to say these names and, to do the work to same them right,’ she wrote.
‘What she fails to understand, is that a Pacific name is not just a surname.
‘It’s your ancestors, your village, your people, your country. We wear our names with pride and they are not there to be made a mockery of – even as a joke with your co-worker.’
Molan was labelled slammed on Twitter after the story was published on Thursday
Another Twitter user described Molan’s mispronunciation as ‘peak white privilege’.
‘Women like Erin Molan like to use their proximity to Brown bodies specifically Brown NRL bodies as an excuse to joke ‘with’ us … no,’ they wrote.
‘You don’t get to make fun of our names and pretend its all in good fun. Not now not ever.
‘It’s f***ing 2020 and if you’re not doing better now you shouldn’t be doing it at all. Peak white privilege.’
Daily Mail Australia has attempted to contact Molan and Nine Entertainment to ask whether she would apologise.
When contacted about the audio on Thursday, Molan said she had ‘no idea’ why no-one laughed, and suggested they were distracted by the busy studio.
Both Nine Entertainment, owner of 2GB, and Molan herself said she was referencing a story Brohman told on an April 5 broadcast, about a debate between father and son commentators, Ray and Chris Warren.
The pair were debating how to pronounce the name of reserve Manly forward of Tongan decent, Haumole Olakau’atu.
‘His name had about 30 letters in it and I had trouble pronouncing it so I asked Chris ‘how do you pronounce this bloke’s name?’ Brohman said.
‘He said ‘well dad and I have been discussing this today… and dad thought his name was Chuka-lala-lulu.
‘And I said, ‘well, dad, I think it’s Chuka-lala-lulu-lulu, and he says, Chris, that’s incorrect – it’s Chukaka-lulalulalo’.
Molan is pictured at the Dally M Awards in Sydney in 2018
The story continued along those with the names getting increasingly complicated until Brohman suggested ‘let’s just call him Sevi’.
Brohman relayed the story in a voice that mocked the speech of both Ray and Chris Warren, which Molan said she imitated on Saturday.
He appeared to be exaggerating a serious discussion between the Warrens for comedic value and not recounting it word for word.
On Saturday, Levy said Warren would ‘run through all the pronunciations’ of players before Saturday night’s match.
Molan then interjected by twice saying ‘Dad!’ in a strange voice, before launching into the nonsensical phrase.
Nine told Daily Mail Australia any perceived racial insensitivity was a misunderstanding as Molan was just referencing a story regular listeners would be familiar with.
Molan on Wednesday night made an Instagram in solidarity with the protests over George Floyd’s death, showing white and black hands intertwined
‘Erin was was jokingly mocking the difficulty Chris and his father had, going back and forth figuring out how to pronounce a complex name,’ it said.
‘The Big Marn (Brohman) retelling the story in his very best Ray and Chris Warren voice.’
Molan’s repeated interjections of ‘Dad!’ were referring to this dynamic, Nine said.
Molan on Wednesday night made an Instagram post in solidarity with the protests over George Floyd’s death, showing white and black hands intertwined.
‘I understand that I will never understand. However, I stand with you,’ her caption stated.
Forty-five per cent of NRL players have Pacific Island heritage, swelling from 30 per cent in 2011.
League players come from 116 different countries, and have family ties to 145 through their parents and grandparents.
Molan said she had ‘no idea’ why no-one laughed, and suggested they were distracted by the busy studio
This is not the first time Molan has used questionable dialogue during a broadcast.
On TV show, 20-to-One, she was widely condemned for mocking K-Pop group BTS.
Molan expressed surprise at the group’s chart-topping success in America, because ‘only one band member actually speaks English’.
She and co-host Nick Cody took things even further by mocking the group’s work with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
While playing a clip of BTS discussing their philanthropic work in a speech to the UN last year, the pair remarked that they must have been speaking about ‘hair products’.