Marty Sheargold: Australian host loses his job over women's football remarks (Image from radioinfo.com.au)
Triple M’s former afternoon host Marty Sheargold has fallen on his penis.
The comedian, who lives by the word, has died by the word, to use a thespian term, at least on Triple M Melbourne.
His histrionic slagging of the Matildas on the drive radio show that bore his name on Monday was misogynistic clit baiting and smacked of contrivance; click baiting as well. Was it slut shaming? Yes, it was. Yes, it is.
The Matildas are not inviolate of sports criticism, nor should they be, but the shock jock’s venom was far removed from any such thing.
In his wrap of the scandal, The Guardian’s Mike Hytner included these remarks:
Matildas player Clare Wheeler wrote: “Sport is for everyone and these views are for no one,” and added a vomiting emoji, while Alex Chidiac wrote that she was “so sick of this shit”.
Putting aside the pro forma apologies of Triple M and Sheargold, one of the more gratifying aspects of this unedifying episode is the global community backlash towards the radio station and Sheargold for his shameful remarks, as well as condemnation from sports and other organisations.
By now, The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) would surely have penned a letter to Triple M showing cause why its licence should not be revoked.
Mention must also be made of the gutless behaviour of Sheargold’s companions in the studio. They too must share in the blame. Troy Ellis and Will Ralston guffawed their asinine obeisance to the bullying Sheargold, in the way that dispensable co-hosts, grateful for the gig, sometimes do.
Are there many men stepping up to have a go at Sheargold and defend the Matildas? Dear reader, you know the answer to that one.
Sheargold seems to have gone AWOL. This is what appears on his podcast page: The page you’re looking for can’t be found. And this is what comes up on his Instagram page: Sorry, this page isn’t available.
The link you followed may be broken, or the page may have been removed. Go back to Instagram.
In a tirade that was tantamount to verbal abuse and arguably verbal assault, Sheargold not only demeaned the Matildas because of their sexuality, he did so whilst comparing them with Year 10 girls in the same sentence.
All this venom spewed only days after it was revealed that Victoria police are investigating sexually explicit deep fake AI generated images of about 80 female students at Gladstone Park Secondary College that have been unleashed on the devouring internet.
Why do that to schoolgirls? Why do that to the Matildas? Why do this to his sisters?
In what was likely a self aggrandising blokey boast in the throbbing vein of Trumpspeak, Sheargold went so far as to say he’d rather hammer a nail in the head of his penis than watch the Matildas play in next year’s Asia Cup. Really?
Notice he said in the ‘head‘ of his penis. Not the base. Not the middle. But his glans penis?
Would it be a big nail for a big penis, or would it be a big nail for a little penis? Or would a drawing pin suffice, maybe a carpet tack? This is where Rosie – Who Was Rosie the Riveter? Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service). The Riveter would come in awfully handy, surely. Where are you girl? Rivets may be more steadfast than nails.
Let’s zoom in and have a closer shufti at what the bearded one said. Listen to the offending audio that another Rosie, fearless champion hockey player Ambrosia ‘Rosie’ Malone posted on her Instagram page that already has more than a million views:
Ambrosia Malone, It’s 2025 and something like this is being aired on prime time radio…disgusting. I had to add the beep in myself because the audio was so…
Marty Sheargold’s vituperative raving was reported internationally, drawing rebuke, anger and ridicule, as well as expected vitriol.
The BBC’s Simon Atkinson, reporting from Brisbane, wrote:
During his drivetime show on Monday afternoon, Sheargold interjected during a sports bulletin – which was discussing Australia’s defeat to the US in its second consecutive loss in the SheBelieves Cup.
“You know what they remind me of? Year 10 girls,” Sheargold said, to the laughter of his co-hosts.
“All the infighting and all the friendship issues… Now I’m sorry to undermine the whole sport, but that’s what I think of it.”
When his colleague mentioned the SheBelieves Cup by name, Sheargold interrupted saying: “Oh, she believes in what? It better be men.”
And when reference was made to Australia hosting the AFC Women’s Asian Cup next year, he said “oh god – the Asian Cup”, before criticising the event with an obscene comment. He then asked his co-host: “Got any men’s sport?”
Atkinson’s article was particularly salient to Europe in the wake of Spain’s High Court guilty verdict of sexual assault meted to former Spain Football chief Luis Rubiales for kissing player Jenni Hermoso on the lips during the medals presentation, after her team won the Women’s World Cup in Australia in 2023. Hermoso is appealing what she asserts is too lenient a sentence rather than a prison term.
Now that stand up comedian Marty Sheargold has been forced to stand down because of an own goal, the air waves may prove a little cleaner, and a little safer for schoolgirls, sportswomen, and women in general, because public discourse and radio talk is an extremely powerful and influential instrument.
You can still walk the wire, risky and risque and all of that, without resorting to hate speak and gender hate speak in particular.
If I were Triple M’s ‘content manager’ I’d organise an outside broadcast, invite all the Matildas and people who have spoken up, including members of the general public – and Sheargold – and put them in a studio for a real session, all the while taking live talkback from listeners/viewers. A lot of good and a little bad could come of it. It would be riveting radio as well, especially if Rosie Malone was the presenter.
You never know, a rapprochement could be struck. We may find out what fuels Marty Sheargold’s hatred of women.
And who knows, maybe Marty Sheargold will go a-waltzing Matildas at the Asia Cup after all.
© Tess Lawrence
Tess Lawrence is Contributing editor-at-large for Independent Australia and her most recent article is The night Porter and allegation of rape.
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View Comments
Thank you Tess, the criticism of elite sports people, competing with the best in the world is really very stupid. I would love to see those critics compete at that level, whether it is break dancing, football, tennis. The work done to get to that level is far more than the critics have ever had to do, especially if it is to poke 'fun' at them, the make jokes which are so very insulting.
The critic more often than not has no idea what price these sportspeople have paid in achieving their level of fitness.
And then to have a blokes joke, demeaning these athletes is beyond the pale. And then to follow up with comments about a women's health issue which he will never know anything about shows absolute arrogance and ignorance.
A voice not needed on radio or anywhere else really.
BERT HETEBRY
And thank you Bert !!!
You're right to remind us of the hard yards that athletes put into their
' overnight ' successes. It's quite breathtaking what the Matildas have done for sport in general - and the respite they bring us while the world is in a troubled and troublesome way.
I've never heard of this M Sheargold, who appears to be a deluded egofixated slutty vacuum of a loudmouth, a quite common type on local radio where the mighty maggot ambition syndrome wanders a Sahara of fantasy. Has this defective done anything, built anything, saved anything? Or is it aural suppurating shit in a festering bedpan, as expected? Media is so full of egofixated sluts sliming away for sensationalised self...Where are you Alan; could you train these turds in manners and sense?
Tess, this is your best!
Good comments, all. One wonders whether this Sheargold person & his co-hosts had lobbed into the studio after a liquid lunch... a not uncommon procedure in the lad-populated universe. Loose lips sink ships and all that...
Good riddance anyway... and all strength to the slow chipping away at the monolithic slab of male-dominated rah rah radio morons determinedly aimed at the neolithic quadrant of the listening audience. It used to be a thing, to be a shock jock jerkoff, hopefully the sheer gold of the Sheargold fiasco moves the dial incrementally in the right direction.
Just more evidence of how Australian 'culture' and media have regressed since the ascendancy of Howard and Murdoch.
This came along with faux 'freedom of speech', anti-woke or political correctness, for a heaving mass of middle aged and older skip blokes to whinge and whine in an echo chamber.
Issue is, they are not funny, but seem to follow that AFL, NRL and cricket media culture icons like Sam Newman, who was never sanctioned by his Footy Show employers allowing open bigotry and misogyny to flourish.
It's really embarrassing and we're only ignored because Trump and related are even worse?
sheargold, newman and their opinions are rife in any gathering without women. After golf there is grudging agreement with the modern women's game being good to watch but only the men are shown on the screens.
pa
I have always watched the women's games both live and on the box. Netball always, tennis except when sharapova began cheating. Cannot watch the run throw and fall over boys and girls nor soccer both are just boring with the latter players being taught to cheat. So I canno9t comment on the matildas except the hype was boring. The aflw is great they are genuine tryers and fiercely competitive.
STEVE DAVIS
Crikey Steve, thank you !!! Bit flustered.
To be honest Tess, the only place I've seen Marty is on Have You Been Paying Attention, and I've enjoyed his stuff.
But there's been a decline noticeable in Australian comedy for a decade or two now.
It's become a constant stream of little more than "taking the piss".
Taking the piss is not satire, and it's certainly not comedy.
We see it also in Mick Molloy and others.
And where there's a sneering sexual element to your comedy, open or implied, there's always a chance you'll blurt out something stupid.
Or in this case, stupid and hurtful.
Good insights there Tess, and wam is right.
Marty, who I recognized from 'Have you been paying attention', seemed this time to have forgetten the public-private comment 'rules of etiquette' book.
Ask Kyle Sanderland for best route going forward?
Funny thing in public and private if you listen closely - the adjacent laughter, snorts, guffaws etc are often forced and childish. Mental much?