Journalist and TV presenter Jessica Rowe has pulled her podcast episode featuring Pauline Hanson after she was slammed on social media for providing a platform for the controversial figure.
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On Wednesday, Jess came under fire after she announced that the latest episode of her podcast, The Jess Rowe Big Talk Show, featured the divisive politician talking about “love … and why she keeps going”.
Many felt that Jess had taken a softball approach to the interview with Pauline, who is renowned for her explosive comments about Asian-Australians, Muslim-Australians and transgender children.
The backlash was immediate, with many taking to Twitter to criticise the star and question why she would give a voice to the controversial politician.
One Twitter user posted: “Who is stuff like this for? Who is the person who is listening to Jessica Rowe and thinking they might like to hear what prominent racist and electoral criminal Pauline Hanson reckons about love and kids? Why is our media like this?”
A second added: “Why would anyone interview Hanson? Racism should not be given air time. Good that Jessica Rowe has listened to people’s feedback and requested the interview be taken down.”
Jess has since responded to the criticism by releasing a statement explaining why she chose to remove the interview with Pauline.
“There has been much reaction and comment to my podcast conversation with Pauline Hanson today. Pauline’s political views are the opposite of mine. I have never agreed with her on those issues. Never will. Kindness is at the heart of who I am.
“Amongst the comments today I heard from some who I admire enormously including Nakkiah Lui and Grace Tame and I want to thank them especially for their candour.”
“This will be the start of a bigger conversation for me and with those who this topic directly affects.”
Pauline Hanson has since responded to the deletion, writing on social media: “At 9:56pm, my office received an email to advise a podcast I’d participated in some weeks ago with Jess Rowe was being pulled.
“I note Jess was sent several tweets, condemning her for conducting a non-political interview with me. Twitter haters bombarded Jess online to a point where she obviously felt pressured to remove the podcast. Shame on keyboard warriors for impacting Jessica’s mental well-being.
“Cancel culture in this country is killing debate, freedom of speech, and shutting down conservative political representation.”
“While I’m disappointed with Jess and her manager’s decision to remove the podcast, I also recognise how much pressure keyboard warriors can put on a person like Jessica who openly discussed with me in the interview how public opinion has impacted her mental wellbeing.
“The removal of this innocuous podcast is a step in the wrong direction for conservative Australians,” she added.
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