Sam Newman resigned from Channel Nine on Friday following widespread backlash over his comments about George Floyd.
But the former Geelong captain doubled down on his stance less than 24 hours later, describing Floyd as an “unsavoury character”.
The 74-year-old was widely criticised after taking aim at Floyd’s criminal records on his podcast You Cannot Be Serious.
“He has been in jail five times, he held up a pregnant black woman with a knife, he’s a drug addict, he’s a crackhead,” Newman claimed.
“He’s dead because of the police brutality and it never should have happened.
“But I am telling you who George Floyd is, now they’ve made a monument about him and he’s a piece of s**t.”
A petition sponsored by anti-racism group Democracy in Colour was widely shared on Friday and called for Newman to be sacked.
On the same day, Channel Nine issued a statement saying the network had “mutually and amicably” decided to part ways with Newman.
In an interview with the Herald Sun a day later, the media personality remained firm about his comments.
“How in God’s name could you say that was controversial what I said about him,” Newman said.
“I could have easily said, and probably should have if I had known it was going to be reported verbatim, that he is of unsavoury character.
“The point is why are making a martyr out of George Floyd, we should be condemning the police brutality.”
Newman also drew fierce criticism after describing COVID-19 as the “Chinese virus” on his Twitter posts.
“Let’s face it. The AFL 2020 comp is a farce. HOW can a table ladder be set, when games and players are postponed. Cancel the official season and just play on to entertain the TV audience,” he wrote alongside the hashtag #ChineseVirus.
The comment has attracted condemnation around the Internet.
“Sam will say anything for attention,” one wrote.
“He likes to be deliberately contrary. He’s finding it hard to go quietly, so negative attention is better than no attention,” another replied.
