Sam Newman has fired back at Abbie Chatfield after the former Bachelor star blasted him on her podcast.
Speaking on his own podcast, You Cannot Be Serious, the 76-year-old said he’d ‘never heard of’ Chatfield and accused her of using him for relevancy.
Chatfield, 27, had previously criticised Newman’s sense of humour, calling it ‘racist’ and stating that he shouldn’t be allowed to return to The Footy Show.
Sam Newman (pictured) has fired back at Abbie Chatfield after the former Bachelor star blasted him on her podcast
‘I’ve honestly never heard of her,’ Newman said. ‘Someone sent it to me and I thought this is throwaway, salacious bulls**t about stuff I speak about.
‘I’m not homophobic, racist or any of the things she’s saying I am,’ he continued.
‘If you talk about those subjects, suddenly you get branded as that. She should worry about her own podcast and getting notoriety on her own, rather than off the back of others. She’s simply mentioning me in the hope of getting noticed.’
It comes after Abbie called out Newman’s problematic behaviour over the years.
The 27-year-old was discussing a recent interview in which he discussed his departure from Channel Nine.
During the interview, Newman claimed ‘it was pointless being a panelist on the Footy Show because he couldn’t be a little edgy’.
‘I’ve honestly never heard of her,’ Newman said of Chatfield, who had recently called for him not to return to The Footy Show
‘The woke society got hold of us all. It was pointless being on the show because they said you can’t do this or that,’ he said.
‘Please I’m not complaining at all but we like to be a little edgy,’ he added.
Abbie reacted to the video, saying: ‘There are enough nice and normal footy players they can put on [The Footy Show] instead.
‘His edgy is being racist… If you can’t be funny without being racist, homophobic or sexist, then you aren’t funny.’
Newman recently claimed ‘it was pointless being a panelist on the Footy Show because he couldn’t be a little edgy’. Newman pictured in 2010
Newman joined the Nine network as a panelist on the Footy Show in 1993 and sparked a number of controversies throughout his career.
In 1999, he appeared on the show in blackface and impersonated Indigenous footballer Nicky Winmar.
Newman referred to 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg as an ‘annoying little brat’ and a ‘s**t’ in late 2019.
He also responded to New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s comments on the Christchurch Mosque massacre in 2019 with an extended critique of the kiwi accent.
In June 2020, Newman ended his 35-year partnership with Channel Nine after labelling George Floyd, a key figure in the Black Lives Matter movement, a ‘piece of s**t’.
‘If you can’t be funny without being racist, homophobic or sexist, then you aren’t funny,’ Abbie said of Newman
The former Geelong AFL great appeared on the Sacked: Showbiz podcast at the time and said he had become accustomed to being criticised.
‘The cancel culture kicked in and I got cancelled. The sponsors got a bit edgy… and I said if you want me to disassociate myself then I’m happy to do that,’ he told the Herald Sun podcast.
Newman also revealed that his controversial demeanour on the Footy Show had previously landed him in trouble with Channel Nine bosses.
‘I know once they did say to me, and I can tell you this, after I’d done something,’ he continued.
‘They said look, the Broadcasting Tribunal have given us a warning and said that if I do anything else again they will actually cancel the licence,’ Newman explained.
Newman joined the Nine network as a panelist on the Footy Show in 1993 and sparked a number of controversies throughout his career
In 2014, Newman sparked outrage and was labelled homophobic for comments about NFL’s first openly gay player, Michael Sam.
Video footage of American athlete Michael sharing a kiss with his partner after being drafted by the St Louis Rams went viral at the time, sparking some controversial comments from Newman.
During an episode of The Footy Show, Newman called the kiss ‘an annoyingly gratuitous act.’
‘At the risk of being branded, no heterosexuals do that when they are drafted… It is a gratuitous act,’ continued the 68-year-old.
Newman was booed by the audience, and his co-hosts berated him for his comments.
In 1999, Newman appeared on the show in blackface and impersonated Indigenous footballer Nicky Winmar
‘You always see shots of players when they’re drafted, whether it’s basketball or footy, if they’re with their girlfriends, wives, partners, of course they embrace and kiss,’ said co-host Garry Lyon.
James Brayshaw labelled Newman’s comments as homophobic.
‘You’re off the pace on this… It’s a natural thing to do,’ he told Newman.
His comments did not sit well with the audience, who took to Twitter to express their anger.
‘Frustrating to hear people like Sam Newman say they are accepting of gay people, just as long as they don’t do anything “gay” in public,’ tweeted Jason Ball, an openly gay Australian Rules footballer who has campaigned against homophobia in sport.
Cult AFL figure Sam Newman will appear alongside Cousins at some speaking engagements
Comedian Wil Anderson added: ‘According to Sam Newman two men kissing on TV is ‘gratuitous’… getting cheap laughs by mocking the mentally ill on the other hand…’
In 2008, after Tasmanian MP Paula Wriedt appeared on the show via a pre-recorded interview, Newman made the comment: ‘We couldn’t get her on, could we? It’s worthy of coming on her.’
He later apologised to Ms Wriedt and insisted that he meant the comments innocently and was horrified they had been interpreted in a negative way.
In 2019, Newman refused to apologise for dressing up in drag, saying his critics had an ‘agenda’.
The controversial star uploaded a clip of himself sporting lipstick and heavy makeup to his social media, saying he was ‘thinking of transitioning’ so he could compete in the Olympics as a female.
The comments were quickly condemned as ‘transphobic’, led by transgender footballer Hannah Mouncey saying he was an ’embarrassment and a fool’.
Newman then hit back at the criticism, saying transgender athletes are ‘hijacking’ women’s sports.
In April, Sam said he had ‘changed’ a lot since the deaths of his wife Amanda Brown and best friend Shane Warne. Newman pictured with Shane in February
He said on 3AW that he doesn’t care what ‘anyone is’, but was concerned transgender athletes threaten the integrity of the AFL.
‘I don’t care if half the men in the world want to be women, I don’t care if men marry men, I don’t care if women marry women, I don’t care if you marry your dog,’ he said.
‘I don’t care if you want to pretend you’re a monkey, but if you pretend you’re monkey don’t enter the monkey Olympics.’
In April, Sam said he had ‘changed’ a lot since the deaths of his wife and best friend.
The football star’s wife, Amanda Brown, died suddenly in March 2021, before his friend, cricketer Shane Warne, passed away in March 2022.
‘It changed me markedly,’ the 76-year-old Geelong Football Club legend told The Herald Sun in April.
‘I became more circumspect and a lot more emotional about people I know and tragedies that beset them or befall them.
‘It affected me those two deaths that I experienced. And dear Amanda, it’s coming up Sunday the anniversary of her death and that really knocked me around.’
He added: ‘Shane’s death and Amanda’s death made me readdress or reassess how I do things.’
‘It changed me markedly,’ the 76-year-old said. ‘I became more circumspect and a lot more emotional’. Pictured with late wife Amanda Brown
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