Dave Taylor’s rugby league club has slammed the Channel 9 Sunday Footy Show after a segment where the presenters made fun of the former Australia internationals weight.
Taylor, who is playing for the Central Queensland Capras in Queensland’s top league after playing for the Canberra Raiders last season, was labelled the “Gutsy Player of the Week” during a segment on Sunday’s show.
Full apology to Dave Taylor: https://t.co/ROZjTnGvIn
— Sunday Footy Show (@SundayFootyShow) August 13, 2018
Several members of the show’s panel laughed as they poked fun at Taylor’s appearance.
Host Joel Caine made the comments that outraged viewers, after he said, “Well Dave, look, it’s a three-letter word – fit, okay?
“But it’s very easy to turn the ‘i’ into an ‘a’ [fat]. That’s all I’m saying.”
SOCIAL REACTION:
This is disgraceful bullying@wwos @adammacdougall5 @TheManShake should all be ashamed of themselves.
Dave Taylor deserves an apology. He’s not a tool for you to make fun of to sell your product. I’m sure he doesn’t endorse your product, nor get paid for you mocking him
— Cøckrøach (@cockroachBLUE) August 12, 2018
Ahhh, god bless the double standards with shaming a male with weight as opposed to a female.
— Mr Ives (@real_MrIves) August 12, 2018
“Really? I cannot believe this!” one person wrote. “Fat-shaming Dave Taylor to sell a product? You guys should not be perpetuating the bullying culture currently rampant in our society.
Others were just as shocked, saying, “Imagine the uproar if you did this to a woman”.
Another post read: “Disgraceful, shaming someone about their body! Just imagine the uproar if you did that to a female.
“Try growing up, and be more respectful.
Said another:”Ahh, God bless the double standards with shaming a male with weight as opposed to a female.”