Matt & Jo fail to see the funny side of Catherine Deveny’s tweets

Fox breakfast duo hit back at Melbourne comic and feminist

Last night Catherine Deveny discovered an old promo shot (below left) of the Matt & Jo Breakfast show and tweeted…

@CatherineDeveny:  This photo sums up everything that’s wrong with commercial radio. It’s about his head. It’s about her body. Yuk.

@CatherineDeveny:  How could Matt and Jo think this photo is okay?

images1_128.Then those tweets were followed by comments from Deveny’s followers including…

kealey ‏@kealey

@CatherineDeveny It’s good that the lady in the picture is much smaller than the man, and far behind him. Y’know, to remind us of equality..

Gina Morris@BestGina

@CatherineDeveny he’s the main attraction, front and center, she’s teeny and the sidekick, a bit of token fluff. Hate it. And them.

mattjofeeling_350The radio pair felt insulted by the remarks and revealed that Catherine herself had spent time trying to get on commercial breakfast radio with Matt.

It has all the ingredients for a long term feud between media personalities.

Below is a transcript of some of what Matt & Jo had to say with audio below that.

***

Matt:  You’re out of line, lady.  And I will say this.  If everything about commercial radio is so yuck, then how come some years ago, Catherine Deveny, you kept faxing me scripts, desperate to get on this show?

***

Jo Stanley:  I actually find it kind of funny, I’ve been in radio so long that I’m used to certain people assuming that it is a very sexist industry – and for many women it has been that case, but for myself, I have only ever had incredible support on this show and here at Fox FM, and so I’ve just said ‘look you know what, I don’t define myself by a photo, I define myself by what I say’

***

Matt Tilley:  But I always think, if you’re going to get on radio and have a shot at people and take the mickey and have fun, then you can’t get prissy when people do it to you, and so I’ve always tried to live by that mantra.  But this is something that does irk me, and that is the fact that she says ‘this sums up everything that’s wrong with commercial radio, it’s about his head’ as in big head, as in ego, and ‘it’s about her body’ as in, she’s just a bimbo.

Now, I would say this to Catherine Deveny, yes, I’m on radio, yes, I’m in the public domain, yes, I have plenty to say.  But I don’t have a big head, and I don’t have a big ego….I don’t go to openings, you don’t see me in the celebrity pages, I’m just a dad, with kids, who coaches their teams.

You know what?  You’ve missed the mark because you probably don’t listen.  And do you know what?  This show is so dedicated towards equality and women, we’re largely based around women listening to our show, the music that we play…and it just really got my goat that this bland, snide assumption that commercial radio is for idiots and morons is insulting.  Not only to us, but the people who listen…it’s snobbery of the worst kind, and it makes me sick, and I think it’s gutless to just put those remarks on Twitter about a photo that’s from years ago…

*** 

Matt:  I’m not misogynist, I’m not demeaning of women – cheeky at best.  And you Jo…making you out as a bimbo, and someone who’s vacuous, makes me sick to the bone, gutless Catherine Deveny.  You (Jo) are the epitome of the modern woman – you work, you have a beautiful family, you’re passionate about our listeners, you are forthright and funny and feminist. 

You’re being snobby about millions of people who live in this town who have made the choice to have a bit of fun, and put a bit back.  And we do the odd good thing.  We have raised a few million dollars for sick and unfortunate people…

***

Matt & Jo attempted to get in touch with Catherine herself on today’s show, however she was unavailable.

 

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