ABC host Stan Grant walks off on Q+A saying he’s taken on “relentless racist smut” and “no one at the broadcaster has uttered a single word of public support…I’ve had enough”
ABC presenter Stan Grant has decided to ‘walk away from the ABC’ after being criticized for his coverage of King Charles’s coronation.
The ABC reportedly received more than 1,000 complaints for its “disrespectful” reporting, which focused heavily on the impact monarchy and colonization have had on Aboriginal Australians and people of color.
Since the episode aired, Grant said he was a victim of “relentless racist filth.”
“The ABC made an official complaint to Twitter this year about the relentless racist filth I’ve been subjected to.
“I am not without criticism. I occupy a privileged and prominent place in the media – I should be criticized. And I don’t have thin skin. Aborigines learn to endure. That’s the price of survival.”
“I have been a media target for racism for years and have paid a high price for it. For now I don’t want to be a part of it – I’m walking away,” Grant said.
‘For how long? Don’t know. I’m not taking time out because of racism – I won’t give racists the satisfaction. I’m not taking time out because I believe the ABC was wrong to discuss the legacy of colonization and empire on the day of the coronation. We did that, I believe, with maturity and respect.
Grant also called out the ABC’s top bosses.
“Nobody at the ABC — whose producers invited me as a guest for their coronation coverage — has uttered a single word of public support,” he said.
“No ABC executive has publicly refuted the lies written or spoken about me. I hold no one responsible; this is an institutional failure.
“I appreciate the friendship of ABC News Director Justin Stevens. He has been a help and support. He’s trying to change an organization that has its own legacy of racism. But he knows I’m disappointed. I am discouraged.’
“Unfortunately, there seems to be no room for love, kindness, goodness, or God in the media. There is no place in the media for respect,” Grant said.
“I am sorry that some monarchists were offended by our reporting. That was never my intention. I thought I used words of love. It is clear that I failed. I have to accept that I am part of the problem. I am part of the media that fails the Australian people every day.”
ABC presenter Stan Grant has decided to ‘walk away from the ABC’ after being criticized for his coverage of King Charles’s coronation
Pictured is Stan Grant with partner Tracey Holmes