Roberts to fight Nine in court
Written by Peter Hackney
Monday, 01 February 2010 16:40
NRL football legend Ian Roberts has signed on as a co-complainant in legal action against Channel Nine over a gay skit on The Footy Show.
The footballer-turned-actor told SX today that he had agreed to be a co-signatory to gay activist Gary Burns court action against the Nine Network, and would do whatever it takes to ensure that Nine makes reparations for the homophobic Footy Show skit which continues to plague the network and the NRL.
The news means openly-gay Roberts will testify against Nine in the upcoming Administrative Decisions Tribunal court case, which could be heard as early as June this year.
Ive signed on with Gary, that was always my intention, and Im willing to make a statement in court and do whatever I can to make sure that Channel Nine and The Footy Show dont get away with this, Roberts told SX.
The Footy Show belittled and degraded gay kids and effeminate kids in that disgusting skit, and they dragged my name into it, and I am not going to let that pass, he said.
The skit in question, which aired on May 7 last year, featured a fictitious gay brother of troubled NRL siblings Andrew and Matthew Johns, called Elton Johns.
I want to return this, said Johns father Gary in the skit. Its faulty.
Elton Johns, portrayed by Matthew Johns, said: Dad only knew I was gay when he walked in on me and my boyfriend Ian (Roberts).
Describing his outrage, Roberts said the Nine Network had struck at the heart of his values by involving him in the skit.
How f**king dare they drag me into something that degrades and belittles gay people, he told SX.
This really goes to the heart of what Im about, I see everyone as equal, and its just disgusting to send a message out there to gay kids, or kids who are different, that they are faulty. And then to name-check me in it just makes me sick, said Roberts.
Thats why I feel so strongly about this, and Ill front up to court and see it through.
Channel Nine will not get away with this, I promise you.
Burns, meanwhile, released to SX the statement he intends to read in court.
In the statement, Burns stressed that he wanted the matter remedied in the public interest, and that he was not seeking any personal recompense.
I have decided that if I am awarded damages, I will donate part of them to the Luncheon Club Aids Support Group, a registered charity which operates services for people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS, said Burns.
The rest I will donate to the Twenty10 youth group, a charity that assists gay, lesbian, transsexual and bi youth find structure in their lives.
I am not seeking any personal recompense. I have acted in the broader public interest at all times throughout this complaint in promoting tolerance and understanding for homosexual males.
Burns added that Nine was out of keeping with the times by portraying gay people as inferior.
This is not 1956, said the activist, who has become known for his colourful language and turns of phrase.
Bette Davis is not strutting across the silver screen, chain smoking. She is dead.
Kiah Wood, Corporate Counsel for Channel Nine, refused to comment when contacted by SX, as did the Executive Producer of The Footy Show, whose name is, bizarrely, also Gary Burns.
