
1. Barry Hall’s one-year-old son threatened by online trolls in wake of comments.
Retired AFL great Barry Hall claims his one-year-old son has been threatened by trolls in the wake of his scandalous remarks on Triple M radio last month.
The former Sydney Swans star was immediately sacked from the station’s commentary team after making a vile remark about his co-host Leigh Montagna’s pregnant wife. But speaking to 60 Minutes, the 41-year-old said the fallout continues.
“My future in terms of my earning capacity has really suffered from a stupid little comment that I shouldn’t have said,” Hall said.
“I’ve got no income and there’s no real light at the end of the tunnel when that will change or when that will be, so it’s a big c–k up.”
But it’s the “thousands and thousands” of messages of “absolute hate” on social media, that have unsettled Hall the most; “They just lay the boots in. It’s a form of bullying,” he said.
Among the worst are those aimed at his wife Lauren Brant and baby son, Miller.
“[The trolls were] basically saying that I was a pig and she deserves me,” he told the Channel 9 program. “Saying that my son’s ugly and talking about harmful things to them, and I’m not just talking about harmful words I’m talking about physical stuff.”
Though Hall conceded he shouldn’t have made the initial remark, he said he never intended to cause offence.
“I say crude stuff like that, not to be degrading to women or inappropriate,” he told 60 Minutes. “It’s more to get people laughing and I sort of understand now after the ramifications of what happened that shouldn’t certainly be on air.”