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Erin Molan points to Chris Lilley’s show Jonah From Tonga to show ‘times have changed’

Lane SaintyNCA NewsWire
Erin Molan was described as a pioneer for women in sport during the trial.
Camera IconErin Molan was described as a pioneer for women in sport during the trial. Credit: News Corp Australia, Justin Lloyd.

Erin Molan pointed to comedian Chris Lilley’s show Jonah from Tonga as an example of how “times have changed” as she defended herself in court against allegations of racism.

The Nine sports broadcaster is suing the Daily Mail for defamation over a June 2020 story she says falsely painted her as a racist and privileged white woman who mocked the names of Polynesian rugby league players and refused to apologise.

She said on Wednesday the Daily Mail, which is arguing a defence of truth, had described Jonah from Tonga as “hilarious” in an article in 2018.

Ms Molan offered the observation towards the end of an hours-long cross-examination in which she repeatedly rejected that she peddled “ugly racial stereotypes” across her five years on the 2GB radio program Continuous Call Team.

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Canterbury Bulldogs general manager and rugby league legend Phil Gould took the stand to label the idea of Ms Molan being a racist “farcical”, while the presenter’s mother said the Daily Mail articles had “absolutely ravaged” her daughter.

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Jonah From Tonga
Chris Lilley
ABC-TV Picture: Supplied
Camera IconMolan says the Daily Mail described Jonah From Tonga as “hilarious” in 2018. Supplied Credit: Supplied

The Daily Mail claims numerous clips from the show’s archive prove Ms Molan is racist, among them a recording in which the 39-year-old journalist says “I love you very long time, very handsome man” in a Chinese accent.

Ms Molan said she was quoting the 1987 film Full Metal Jacket — in which a Vietnamese sex worker says a similar line — and the joke was that her accent “was so bad”.

On Wednesday, Mr McClintock asked Ms Molan if she accepted “any personal moral culpability” for putting on the accent on Continuous Call Team.

“There will be an absolute time for reflection once this is done, if standards have changed and what the community expects has changed,” Ms Molan said.

“But I’ll say this to you, the publication you represent posted an article in 2018 that described Chris Lilley doing Jonah from Tonga as hilarious.

“That is a man who put brown make-up on and put on a Polynesian accent. Times have changed, absolutely.”

On Tuesday, Ms Molan said white actor Hank Azaria’s apology earlier this year for voicing the Indian character of Apu on The Simpsons was an example of how rapidly standards could change.

Erin Molan
Camera IconErin Molan was described as a pioneer for women in sport during the trial. Credit: News Corp Australia, Justin Lloyd.

Mr Gould said the notion of Ms Molan being a racist was “farcical” and she was known as a “respected commentator” who worked hard.

She was“something of a pioneer for women in media in sport” and a “role model for young girls”, who was always respectful to players of different backgrounds, he said.

Her mother Anne Molan told the court that when she visited her daughter in September 2020, “Erin was as white as a ghost”.

“She looked haggard. For the first two hours I was there we sat on the sofa just with our fingers entwined, just holding hands. She was still badly shaken. She was a recluse.”

Anne Molan said her daughter was afraid to leave the house due to “very graphic and very detailed” social media threats, and at one point she grew concerned her daughter might try to harm herself.

Ms Molan is suing over a June 5, 2020, story and two tweets published by the Daily Mail about her saying “hooka looka mooka hooka fooka” on the Continuous Call Team show.

Ms Molan maintains the comment was a reference to a past story told on the show about Ray and Chris Warren practising name pronunciations, and that the father-son commentator duo, not Polynesian players, were the butt of the joke.

She also alleges the media outlet falsely reported that she refused to apologise and that she labelled the comment an “inside joke”, which she denies ever saying.

The Daily Mail is defending the case and has filed a lengthy truth defence based on hours of Continuous Call Team audio.

Ms Molan’s barrister Kieran Smark said a draft of the Daily Mail story showed the outlet had “locked and loaded” a headline about Ms Molan refusing to apologise before directly asking her if she would.

He said the draft was saved at about 12.40pm on June 5 with the same headline published an hour later: “Erin Molan refuses to apologise for her ‘hooka looka mooka’ jibe on live radio — as Pacific Islander women slam her for being ’complicit in racism’ by mocking their names”.

This was before the journalist had texted Ms Molan to ask if she would apologise, which happened at 1.03pm that day, Mr Smark said.

The headline was “pre-prepared like a cooking show, ‘Here’s one we prepared earlier’,” the barrister said.

The outlet’s journalists had also emailed Nine publicity twice earlier in the day, with no reply to either the emails or text at the time of publication, the court has heard.

Ms Molan said she recorded an apology that afternoon, which went to air on 2GB. The Daily Mail alleges it was not a genuine apology.

The hearing was adjourned to September 30, when each barrister will deliver closing submissions.

 

Originally published as Erin Molan points to Chris Lilley’s show Jonah From Tonga to show ‘times have changed’

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