Disability advocate Hannah Diviney is taking on the nation’s most controversial radio host, Kyle Sandilands, claiming that he used ableist slurs on national radio.
WATCH: Kyle Sandilands reveals crass text to Karl Stefanovic
Speaking during a panel at The Australian Women’s Weekly’s Women of the Future Awards on Wednesday, Hannah recounted his shocking comments to the crowd.
“Kyle Sandilands took it upon himself, a couple of days ago, to express his displeasure with the Kyle and Jackie O Show’s performance in the breakfast radio ratings by calling his team a ‘bunch of spazzes’,” she said.
“He also decided to refer to Ben Fordham’s audience as ‘a bunch of fake fibreglass half-dead looking people who are flops in wheelchairs’.”
She explained that “spaz” (which is widely regarded as a slur but used here to articulate Hannah’s comments) is “often used as a cultural shorthand having a lack of control, not being good at what they do”.
However, the phrase is derived from the word spastic, a legitimate form of medical terminology that applies to her and many disabled individuals.
“My disability Cerebral Palsy is literally classified as Spastic Diplegia (where spasticity refers to unending painful tightness in my legs),” she has tweeted in the past.
On Wednesday she added that the word “doesn’t reflect on my intelligence or anything like that”, but should no longer be used to attack or disparage people.
She also announced an opinion piece about Kyle’s comments for The Daily Telegraph, where she called out Kyle’s “eight minute rant … dripping in horrific ableist language” and accused him of “years of bigotry towards multiple marginalised communities”.
WATCH: Kyle Sandilands’ prank reduces Jackie O to tears
She also claimed that Jackie O, KIIS FM and all the producers and other people involved with Kyle’s show are “complicit” with his “bigotry”.
At the Women of the Future event, Hannah suggested she expects a response from the radio host.
No stranger to controversy, Kyle often addresses media comments about him on the Kyle and Jackie O Show.
However, Hannah made it clear that she would not be brought low by any “trolling” after her opinion piece hits the internet,
“I have been called pretty much every name a woman can be called,” she said, referencing past instances of social media bullying.
“I had people sending me gifs of animated people in wheelchairs being pushed off cliffs. But I wouldn’t change it because I think having these conversations is far more important than anything anyone could say about me.”
Hunter Johnstone, CEO and founder of The Man Cave, suggested Kyle’s comments may come from a place of “insecurity”.
“Kyle Sandilands, a lot of that I believe comes from people with insecurities,” he said during the panel.
The Man Cave is a preventative mental health and emotional intelligence charity that helps boys develop healthy relationships.
WHO has reached out to Kyle’s team for comment.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
