Sports commentator Sam Newman calls Caitlyn Jenner ‘it,’ then defends himself

Sam Newman, a sports commentator in Australia, has dipped his toe in some hot water after some desperately inappropriate commentary on his AFL Footy Show targeting transgender people.

The most egregious of the exchange between Newman and a couple other people on-set seems to be his gendering of Caitlyn Jenner as “it,” only after calling her “he.” When the crowd reacted with moans, he immediately referred to her as “she,” as he knows full well she is a woman and Newman should use female pronouns. Sadly he played up the “he” and “it” as his own gross attack on her. This was clearly intentional

That comment only came after another commentator called Jenner ugly, dismissing her as a “Kardashian lookalike.”

All of this prompted Annie Nolan, the wife of AFL player Liam Picken, to take to Twitter with a rant against the show and support for the trans community. Here’s just a sample:

It takes a pretty small person to resort to the bullshit Newman and his cronies engaged in during even just the short segment of the show.

Newman has offered a perfunctory apology, but Nolan isn’t accepting it and wants actual change. Newman has, in the past, engaged in racism, homophobia and other nasty spectacles.