Triple ahem: Station red-faced over Maroon walkout
Sport columnist
May 8, 2022 — 5.00am
Fox Sports reporter
James Hooper is expected to offer an on-air apology today to the man who last week quit the Triple M program they hosted together –
Anthony Maroon. The apology will come as secret moves are already being made to move Maroon’s replacement,
Tony Squires.
Maroon’s walk-out last Sunday has thrown the entire show into chaos, with the network insisting it doesn’t condone on-air harassment while keeping co-hosts Hooper,
Paul Kent and
Gorden Tallis on the show.
It’s unlikley Hooper’s apology will mean much to Maroon.
Veteran presenter Squires has climbed into the chair at short notice to replace Maroon but, in a bizarre move, the hosts of the show have reached out to
Gus Worland to step into the role. It remains to be seen if Squires is given as rough a ride on air by Kent and Hooper, whose constant jibes led to Maroon’s on-air walk-out.
Given Squires was not their preference, he will be walking into a show weighed down by Maroon’s exit and a lack of public contrition from the hosts, which contributes to the view the station condones the behaviour that caused Maroon such distress. To approach Worland is tone-deaf. He is an ambassador for men’s mental health and stepping into that environment would be a bad look.
There’s a school of thought that says the best solution would be to give Maroon his slot back and allow him to control what happened from there. He is the out-and-out star of the show.
Maroon says Triple M has offered him support as he deals with this issue. The network has the likes of
Brent Read and
Emma Lawrence in their stable already, as well as
Benji Marshall and
James Graham if they needed a fresh start.
For those who have not followed the drama, Maroon – one of the nicest people in the league industry – walked off the show mid-broadcast last Sunday after being badgered about suggestions the ATO needs to look into his affairs.
Maroon said on air he’d asked them repeatedly to stop that line of conversation and revealed he had complained to management about it. We contacted the previous head of football at Triple M,
Brad McNamara, and the current one,
Ewan Giles, to get clarity on that. We were directed to Triple M head of PR
Janna Hocking, who referred us to a generic statement issued by the network.
This column has reached out to all mentioned but there’s been no comment. Hooper and Kent were contacted but offered no comment. Kent is not expected to join Hooper in apologising to Maroon. It’s understood he has been more concerned about Hooper’s wellbeing.
There have been suggestions that Hooper would take a break from his role. That was denied by the station when I put that to them. Hooper has been targeted by his own organisation, News Corp, who has laid much of the blame at his feet.
That’s quite remarkable, given he and Kent went at Maroon with equal delight. Hooper and Kent failed to read the room equally. They even continued to bag Maroon after his walk-out, thinking it was a joke.
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/triple-ahem-station-red-faced-over-maroon-walkout-20220507-p5ajer.html
Apology written by someone in PR and read monotonously on air
