Former Collingwood star Heritier Lumumba has claimed Sam Newman and his ‘bigotry’ was part of the reason he refused to appear on The Footy Show.
Newman had worked on the Channel Nine sports program for 27-years as a panelist and host in which he had sparked a number of controversies.
He wore blackface and impersonated Indigenous footballer Nicky Winmar, labelled climate change activist Greta Thunberg a ‘little brat’ and criticised AFL players for taking the knee in solidarity with the Black Lives movement.
Though it wasn’t until he called George Floyd, the inspiration behind the latest Black Lives protests, a ‘piece of sh**’ in his own podcast that he parted ways with the media network.
Lumumba, an ex-Magpies and Melbourne Demons defender, revealed in a tweet on Friday, it was this kind of behaviour that partly prevented him from appearing on the Footy Show during his game days.
Former Collingwood star Heritier Lumumba has claimed Sam Newman and his ‘bigotry’ was part of the reason he refused to appear on The Footy Show
Newman had worked on the Channel Nine sports program for 27-years as a panelist and host in which he had sparked a number of controversies
‘Sam Newman is doing exactly what he has always done,’ he tweeted.
‘He is consistent with his bigotry, unwavering with his prejudice, and unapologetic with his tone deafness.
‘Unsurprisingly, Newman’s comments re: George Floyd show that [he] doesn’t have a clue about what the #BlackLivesMatter is about. ANY black victim of extrajudicial execution by police or vigilantes deserves recognition by the BLM movement, as they are human beings, first and foremost.’
Newman teed off on Mr Floyd alongside former great Don Scott and footy reporter Mike Sheahan on the podcast ‘You Cannot be Serious’.
‘George Floyd, who is a piece of sh*t incidentally,’ Newman began before his co-hosts attempted to intervene.
‘You know who George Floyd is? He has been in jail five times, he held up a pregnant black woman with a knife, he’s a drug addict, he’s a crack head and he’s a porn star.’
George Floyd died after an arrest on May 25 in which a police officer knelt on his neck for eight minutes, during which Mr Floyd was complaining that he could not breathe.
Newman said Mr Floyd’s death occurred ‘because of the police brutality’.
‘And it should never have happened, but I’m just telling you who George Floyd is and they’ve made a monument to him and he’s a piece of sh*t,’ he said.
He wore blackface and impersonated indigenous footballer Nicky Winmar, labelled climate change activist Greta Thunberg a ‘little brat’ and criticised AFL players for taking the knee in solidarity with the Black Lives movement
George Floyd died after an arrest on May 25 in which a police officer knelt on his neck for eight minutes, during which Mr Floyd was complaining that he could not breathe
Lumumba said in his tweet that Newman’s comments about Mr Floyd’s past was an attempt to dehumanise him.
‘George Floyd’s criminal past shouldn’t disqualify him from being seen as a human being first.
‘Police aren’t conducting background checks before shooting, beating or kneeling on the necks of black people. Why? Because they don’t see us as human. Newman doesn’t sees us as human.’
Newman’s comments about Mr Floyd were just one in a string of controversies the host had sparked throughout his time in the public spotlight.
In 1999, Newman appeared on the Footy Show in blackface and impersonated Indigenous footballer Nicky Winmar.
Lumumba, an ex-Magpies and Melbourne Demons defender, revealed in a tweet on Friday, it was this kind of behaviour that partly prevented him from appearing on the Footy Show during his game days
Newman referred to sixteen-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg as an ‘annoying little brat’ and a ‘sh**’ in late 2019.
He also responded to Jacinda Ardern’s comments on the Christchurch Mosque massacre in 2019 with an extended critique of the New Zealand accent.
Newman recently criticised AFL players for taking a knee in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.
He claimed the gesture at the Richmond Tigers and Collingwood Magpies match was an act of ‘preening’.