Kennett the Fashionista

[Strange Cat]

I'd bet money that this was Brian Lake

Anyway, Kennett is a disgrace to every office he's ever held.

Im
Still
Shocked that he a public face for beyond blue and still a president of a AFL club tbh

Should had stayed out of the public spotlight years ago

 

[outabounds]

Sorry am I missing something here? Not a big fan of Kennett but he has done nothing wrong. It's bordering on embarrassing that this being cited some kind of scandal

 

[PetterdHoisted]

I reckon this is more a straw that broke the camels back situation rather than an issue with the joke itself. He clearly has form going after Rioli and his missus.

but even then, how could a harmless joke like that be the straw? It's not even a straw, it's literally nothing.

 

[ptrg]

Another here to support the whole “Kennet is a complete flog but wtf is this even a thing?”

Pretty much at the point in time where if an aboriginal person labels you as racist (ie they decided that they take racial offence), you’re cooked. Guilty without defence.
Insane times we live in.

 

[PetterdHoisted]

I liked KBs similar comment about young men not wearing socks with their shoes these days:
'In my day, if you didn't wear socks, it was because you couldn't afford them!'

Don't know if KB was cancelled for racism after saying that one though..

 

[ptrg]

I reckon this is more a straw that broke the camels back situation rather than an issue with the joke itself. He clearly has form going after Rioli and his missus.

Like what?

 

[PetterdHoisted]

Another here to support the whole “Kennet is a complete flog but wtf is this even a thing?”

Pretty much at the point in time where if an aboriginal person labels you as racist (ie they decided that they take racial offence), you’re cooked. Guilty without defence.
Insane times we live in.

I can't stand this kind of extreme relativism.
'If it causes offence it must be offensive'

We simply must have an agreed, objective standard of what is racist behaviour. It can't be anything you like on the day.

 

[ptrg]

Isn't that how gaslighting works?
Being able to needle someone, but if the incidents were put on paper without context, the victim looks dramatic or hysterical

Also how false or incorrect accusations work

 

[Whiskers]

A pretty damning article for Kennett and Hawthorn.

‘The only club I wouldn’t put my hand up for right now’: Why Hawks legend Cyril Rioli has stayed away

It is almost four years since Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett spoke to Cyril Rioli’s wife Shannyn in a manner that ultimately precipitated the champion footballer’s dramatic exit from the football club and the game that he had so richly punctuated for more than a decade.

www.google.com

Caused Rioli to walk away from the club and looks like will take some effort to get him to return. He doubts he will come to the 10 year premiership reunion next year.

Just so everyone knows the real story Cyril walked away early Is because he won ozlotto.
It’s not just because of Kennett, he could’ve played elsewhere but has no need.

 

[Altum Volantes]

I liked KBs similar comment about young men not wearing socks with their shoes these days:
'In my day, if you didn't wear socks, it was because you couldn't afford them!'

Don't know if KB was cancelled for racism after saying that one though..

If he’d said it directly to a sockless Maurice Rioli Jnr on a RFC trip it takes on a bit of a different vibe doesn’t it?

 

[JustaBattler]

Personally I am no fan of C Wilson - but for those of you who are offended by Rioli's stance :

Ask yourself : who gave Kennett the right to act and speak to another person's wife/partner in such a manner in the first place? It was and is highly inappropriate to make comment about another person's attire in any context...

Kennett assumes the 'right' to not only make fun of a person's attire but to also offer her some 'loose change' so that she can 'buy some thread' to 'sew it up'... that 'joke' is actually a series of jibes - designed to humiliate and belittle the person on the receiving end ....

The whole construct of his 'joke' is an ugly piece of work .

 

[jwikked]

If he’d said it directly to a sockless Maurice Rioli Jnr on a RFC trip it takes on a bit of a different vibe doesn’t it?

Not really. If he said it to a homeless guy on the streets, maybe. But to say it to MRjnr shouldn't be a problem, unless you subscribe to the idea that he needs to be treated with kids gloves because he's an Aboriginal.

 

[The 747]

Sorry am I missing something here? Not a big fan of Kennett but he has done nothing wrong. It's bordering on embarrassing that this being cited some kind of scandal

Yeah you are missing the read the article bit.

 

[Beerfish]

Well why don’t you enlightened me with your interpretation of it all.

If you have the guts to.

Guts? Just read it yourself. It's not difficult.

 

[Altum Volantes]

Not really. If he said it to a homeless guy on the streets, maybe. But to say it to MRjnr shouldn't be a problem, unless you subscribe to the idea that he needs to be treated with kids gloves.

More so that commenting about how people dress needs to be viewed in context and you need to be aware of how your comment may be perceived.

If a wealthy white man makes a comment about the torn clothing of an Aboriginal woman with a keen eye for cultural sensitivity and offers her money to repair her clothes (the obvious joke being that she needs his charity to afford to do so) then he is putting himself in a position for his comment to be taken in a racially offensive manner. Common sense would suggest to save that gag for someone else….but hey, he went ahead and said it and here we are.

Once it’s done, it’s done - it becomes a racial issue and no amount of ‘no it isn’t!’ changes that…

 

[hk89]

The way I see it, the "jeans joke" is a red-herring.

If you think Cyril and Shannyn overreacted then in my mind you are probably either underestimating what it feels like as a young indigenous women to be offered help to clothe yourself by your Husband's powerful white boss or you're underestimating how badly the family had been treated previously , in order for this to be a trigger event. Probably both. I can't pretend to understand what it felt like, but clearly the results speak for themselves, and deep offense was taken, and then not properly addressed afterwards (rather it seems to have been characterised by the club as an overaction, which was tone deaf response in itself).

Whether you agree on the joke being racist, I'm sure most people can agree that an old bloke making jokes about a young women's attire (a women you really don't know very well) is at the very least being an insensitive and inappropriate a-hole.

However when you read the entire article, the "jeansgate" incident is really not the most important issue. Rather, it is the long history of ignoring legitimate concerns about obvious racism prior to the jeans "joke", and not putting proper resources into our cultural program.

I hope we can repair the rift between the club and Rioli, but I don't think it will be easy, and I would understand if Rioli never wanted to step foot in a club sponsored event again.

 

[Jugada]

As others have said, the remark on its own, in isolation, is harmless enough but it was no doubt the final straw.

And if you the person making the ‘joke’ is someone you have no time for, it’s not likely to be received as funny.

Kennett is no doubt that arrogant, tone deaf and oblivious he probably had no idea the Rioli’s wouldn’t have wanted him around.

Don't have to like the guy or think it was a brilliant joke. But if you start making serious complaints about someone ragging on your ripped jeans fashion then I'm going to give you a get over it response as well

 

[justlookingaround]

Pretty much at the point in time where if an aboriginal person labels you as racist (ie they decided that they take racial offence), you’re cooked. Guilty without defence.
Insane times we live in.

Someone's been watching too much Sky News...

 

[kickazz]

I think hardly anyone has read the article. All this talk over Jeff, when clearly the bigger issue in my mind is where the * does a senior player in 2013 get off using b**** to an indigenous person's face? (Or at all fwiw)

Jeff is from a generation that frankly doesn't know better and is a bad example of that generation to boot.

A gen Y person, senior member of an AFL footy team? Far out.

 

[mcnulty]

History question- when’s the last time two horses placed in both the Vic and AJC Derby?

 

[ptrg]

Someone's been watching too much Sky News...

Wouldn’t watch that garbage with a 12ft barge pole. But the guy is about to be rolled on the back of a comment that I believe (along with many others) was nothing but an old fashioned “old person” jab at a younger person.
I work in an industry where it is expected guests wear “acceptable clothing” and I have heard older gen people say almost the exact same line as Jeff on numerous occasions.
I presume it was a “cool” thing for oldies to say back in the day. But for it to be both labeled, and therefore “accepted” as racist, it nonsense.

I bet you wouldn’t like one of your old racist Facebook statuses to cost you your your current job..

 

[The 747]

These threads always remind us how afraid some people are of modern society.

 

[mcnulty]

The variation of the joke, one I’ve heard my father use, is “couldn’t you afford a new pair?” Thank heavens he didn’t say that!

 

[ptrg]

These threads always remind us how afraid some people are of modern cancel culture.

They have a fair point

 

[The 747]

They have a fair point

Nah.

Not offending people isn't hard.