Marty Sheargold has broken his silence over the controversial Matildas comments that ended his radio career last February.
The veteran broadcaster parted ways with Triple M after his on-air jokes about the women’s football team sparked outrage.
“ There’s something wrong with the Matildas. You know what they remind me of? Year 10 girls. All the infighting and all the friendship issues,” he said at the time.
In his latest interview with Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O on Thursday, Sheargold revealed he was struggling with some “disastrous” personal issues when he made the comments.
“Dad had just recently died the week before,” he said.
“So I’d done the eulogy at his funeral on the Friday and then I was on air on the Monday and this Matildas thing exploded.”
Sheargold explained that he chose not to comment on the controversy at the time as “everyone’s got a head of steam, no one wants to listen, and I was just sort of absorbing what was going on.”
He added that he didn’t want to be accused of playing the ‘his dad died’ card, and acknowledged that “ I shouldn’t have been at work is really the bottom line.”
The veteran broadcaster also revealed that the segment was actually prerecorded.
“You know sometimes when you do that (prerecord a break), you go home and think, ‘gees, I might give ‘em a ring and just get ‘em to pull that out (before it goes to air),’” he told Kyle and Jackie O.
“But I wasn’t even thinking like that because I was so sidelined by what was going on for me.”
Sheargold revealed that it was his actually his decision to walk away from radio, when he parted ways with the network two days after the comments went to air.
“ I said to them, ‘let’s go our separate ways.’ I never spoke to the CEO. The board never addressed me.
“I’d had enough,” he added.
“I’d had a couple of extended breaks leading up to it where I was just burnt out by the whole thing.”
He also said that at the time the media had built a narrative that “I’d somehow become a disaster,” referencing media reports that suggested he was asked to leave the 2023 AFL grand final because he’d made “crude and offensive” remarks.
“ I left at halftime ‘cause I was blind drunk,” he said while laughing at the memory.
“Did I make a tit of myself in front of a few clients? Yes, of course I did, because that’s what I do.”
Sheargold also confirmed that he had no desire to return to radio, and is happy that he returned to what he initially wanted to do, stand-up comedy.
“ I’ve realised I don’t want a boss anymore. I don’t want someone drifting in and going, ‘have you thought about this?’ Or that classic, ‘How’d you think today went?’”
He is currently touring the country with his own comedy show The Red Card Tour (Work In Progress).
Image: Triple M
