Controversial media figure Sam Newman has had his appearance at a South Australian pub cancelled after furious backlash to the booking from locals.
The Advertiser reports the former AFL player was scheduled to appear in mid-April at The Lady Bay Hotel in Normanville in an event called ‘An Evening With Sam Newman’.
However the event was condemned online by locals who raised concerns over the 75-year-old’s history of offensive comments and actions, prompting swift action from hotel management.
“We just don’t like to be controversial, so when we started to get this sort of feedback, we made the decision to cancel the show,” the venue’s manager Steve Finlayson told The Advertiser.
“We’ve been booking cover bands which have been really well received, so I think we’ll be sticking to musicians.”
Newman, who hosts the ‘You Cannot Be Serious’ podcast with Mike Sheahan and Don Scott, has generated plenty of headlines in recent times for his comments on a range of issues.
Last year he was slammed on social media for calling US President-elect Joe Biden “mentally retarded”.
Newman went beserk on Twitter after Biden was declared the winner of the US election.
“Great day for inclusion and diversity,” Newman said.
“Shows someone who is mentally retarded and has special needs, can attain high office. Congratulations, Joe Biden.”
The crude comments were blasted by hundreds of people, with several calling it “vile” and others wanting his account shut down.
He was sacked from his media job earlier in 2020 over comments about slain Black man George Floyd.
He called Floyd “a piece of s***” in a scathing attack after AFL players supported the Black Lives Matter movement by kneeling before games.
Newman blasts Collingwood ‘cowards’
Newman was back in the headlines in March after he called out the “cowards” who abandoned former Magpies president Eddie McGuire, saying they “should be ashamed”.
McGuire had been in “a bad way” since leaving his post at the Magpies in February when the club was found guilty of systemic racism.
The former president had been laying low since the scandal which Newman described as a “witch hunt”.
“It is an absolute unmitigated disgrace for a number of reasons,” Newman told News Corp.
“First of all it is a witch hunt. This is a witch hunt. Eddie McGuire has been at that club for more than 20 years, he has had heavy hitters on his board of directors, he has had various CEOs, he has had coaches that have been on the journey with him, and the only person they round up is Eddie McGuire.
“This is a witch hunt and has nothing to do with the case at hand. Where are all the other people who have been at that club?”
Newman slammed the lack of public support for McGuire following the scandal.
“There are really weak cowardly people who would normally come to his aid, but don’t want to get involved because you know the most overused and incorrectly used word in the English lexicon at the minute is racism,” he said.