The Project co-host Lisa Wilkinson has defended an interview with ‘Egg Boy’ Will Connolly on the show after fans criticised his appearance.
Connolly, 17, egged right-wing Senator Fraser Anning in Melbourne in response to the politician’s comments on Muslim immigration in the wake of the Christchurch mosque shootings.
In his first public appearance on The Project on Monday night, Connolly said although his actions were ‘not the right thing to do’ he had ‘united people’ and raised money for those affected by the massacre.
Unhappy viewers took to social media to voice their disapproval of Connolly, and Wilkinson jumped into the comments section herself to hit back at them.
The Project co-host Lisa Wilkinson (pictured) has defended an interview with ‘Egg Boy’ Will Connolly on the show after fans criticised his appearance
Connolly (pictured), 17, egged right-wing Senator Fraser Anning in Melbourne in response to the politician’s comments on Muslim immigration in the wake of the Christchurch mosque shootings
In his first public appearance on The Project on Monday night, Connolly said although his actions were ‘not the right thing to do’ he had ‘united people’
Wilkinson took to the comments section herself to defend the programme, saying they had not made ‘Egg Boy’ a ‘hero’
‘[Lisa Wilkinson] so you think it’s okay to smash eggs on someone in public view? If he did it to you because [he] disagreed with your views would you still make him a hero for his behaviour?’ one person commented underneath a post by The Project on Instagram.
‘What does this teach our young about respectful behaviour? I don’t care what was said by Anning we should not be promoting this kind of behaviour.’
Wilkinson took to the comments section herself to defend the programme, saying they had not made ‘Egg Boy’ a ‘hero’.
‘We are news program. He has been a huge news story. He has been hounded for interviews by just about every TV, online and radio show in the world,’ Wilkinson said.
‘As well as every major publication you could imagine. He approached us because he felt we would be fair and balanced in presenting his story. And I believe we were. That’s it. Cheers, Lisa.’
Another unhappy watcher said ‘Egg Boy’ did not deserve attention.
‘Fraser Anning is an idiot no doubt about that – but it is not OK to hit someone you disagree with with an egg or anything else – imagine the furore if this was done to a female politician or the Prime Minister or anyone that you disagreed with!’ they said.
Wilkinson again defended her show.
Another unhappy watcher said ‘Egg Boy’ did not deserve attention
The 17-year-old shot to internet fame after he was captured on video smashing an egg on Queensland Senator Fraser Anning’s head in Melbourne on March 16
Connolly, 17, (pictured) was tackled to the ground after cracking an egg on Senator Anning in a press conference in Melbourne
‘Can I suggest you watch the interview before you rush to judgement Jenny. You might be surprised by just how contrite this young man is. Cheers, Lisa,’ she said.
During the interview with Hamish McDonald, Connolly revealed he was called ‘Egg Boy’ before his interaction with Senator Anning.
‘I understand what I did was not the right thing to do,’ he told host Hamish MacDonald.
‘However, this egg has united people and, you know, money has been raised, tens of thousands of dollars have been raised for those victims.’
The controversial incident was captured on video at the Conservative National Party meeting in Moorabbin, Melbourne on March 16 and later went viral.
After the egging, Connolly was smacked in the face twice by Senator Anning and was tackled to the ground and put in a choke-hold by four of the senator’s supporters.
Twitter erupted with praise of Egg Boy with many creating ‘fan art’ to show they stand with the 17-year-old
Senator Fraser Anning later defended physically lashing out at the teenage boy who publicly egged him saying it’s what ‘most sensible people would do’
The debacle led him to become an internet sensation overnight spawning thousands of memes, calls for him to be the next Prime Minister and free life-time entry to gigs by major Australian bands. A street artist in Melbourne even painted a mural in his honour.
Connolly’s supporters also launched a GoFundMe page for his legal fees that has since raised nearly $80,000 – which he plans to donate to the families of the victims.
When asked about his new nickname, Connolly revealed ‘Egg Boy’ stems back to his time in high school.
‘I just prefer Will, Egg Boy’s getting pretty annoying, to be honest,’ he said.
‘Well funnily enough, I was actually called ‘Egg Boy’ before this happened as I’d eat boiled eggs at lunch and all the girls would be like “get away from me that reeks.”‘
The teen added that his newfound fame has been ‘kinda embarrassing’ and admitted he was not expecting Mr Anning to react the way he did.
‘I didn’t expect him to react, I thought I was just going to walk out there. I didn’t think this was going to blow up,’ Connolly said.
‘In fact, it’s blown up completely out of proportion to the point it’s kinda embarrassing because too much attention has actually been brought away from the real victims suffering, we should be focusing on them.’
When asked if he thought he deserved to be hit, Connolly replied: ‘I can understand why some people reacted the way they did.’
The 17-year-old boy who smashed an egg on the back of Senator Fraser Anning’s head has been honoured with an enormous mural in a Melbourne lane way
He wouldn’t explicitly apologise but admitted that there is never a good reason to ‘physically attack anyone.’
‘I thought the world should be supporting all those victims giving them love and passion and the senator released a statement which was pretty much divisive hate speech blaming the victims for the attack and I was just flat out disgusted,’ he said.
The teen said his mother supported him standing up for his beliefs, but did not agree with how he did it.
Connolly said the whole thing was ‘meant to be a few laughs’ for his friends.
Last week, Senator Anning said during a press conference that he did not regret striking back at the boy stating his reaction was how ‘most sensible’ would react.
‘I turned around and defended myself, I think that’s what most people, most sensible people would do,’ he said during a radio interview.
When asked if he was bothered that the boy was receiving praise for his actions, Anning said: ‘No, it doesn’t worry me too much. People have their own opinions, they have the right to express them, they just don’t have the right to attack you.
‘I’m sure he will be [reprimanded], yeah. He needs to be, otherwise he’ll grow up to be a person who’ll do it again and again, probably. If he thinks he can get away with it.’