Yeah, as someone mentioned earlier, I think Ray Hadley's involvement in all of this has exacerbated the situation a lot. The family of the son used Hadley's show as a vehicle (which gets good ratings, thanks to the Alan Jones show before him) to try and get mainstream publicity. Added on top of it, Hadley's response and the already strong animosity existing between him and Vautin, has complicated things even further. If Hadley had his way, he'd love to see Vautin off the show. Now, I know theres other ppl here on LU who'd love to see Vautin gone (tbh, he's past his use-by-date), but not for the same reasons that Hadley's wants Vautin out (which is more of a jealousy/pay-back/revenge sort of reason, considering that Vautin was the reason Hadley got the boot from the show nearly 10 years ago). Also, compound this with the News Limited run Daily Telegraph (whom the family also have approached), which doesn't like Channel 9 (who are more affiliated with the Sunday/Sydney morning Herald), who is Vautin's employer.
I know both NRL and AFL Footy Shows have been known for some notorious incidents since it commenced in the mid 90s. From the AFL Footy Show, we have already seen Sam Newman succomb to the increasing pressure of incidents from years gone by (he is currently suspended indefinitely from the AFL Footy Show, the last straw being the recent Caroline Wilson incident). Nearly a year ago, there was all this talk of Vautin going to get the axe, as he clearly has not recovered from the accident he suffered 3 yrs ago (but was bailed out at the last minute by the return of one of his friends, Gyngell (who currently is CEO at 9)). However, could Vautin end up being the scapegoat in a similar manner to what happened to Sam Newman? Could this particular incident and response from the family, on top of the passing of Fatty's brother, spell the beginning of a very quick end for Vautin??