Controversial Waleed Aly interview deleted
<p><span>Channel 10 has removed a controversial interview between Waleed Aly and former Collingwood Magpies defender Heritier Lumumba following intense backlash.</span><br /><br /><span>Aly has been pushed to apologise for his 2017 interview with Lumumba in 2017 after a report found Collingwood was indeed guilty of fostering “systemic racism”.</span><br /><br /><span>An investigation followed after Lumumba made damning claims that there was an enduring “culture of racist jokes” and also revealed he had allegedly been nicknamed “Chimp” while playing for the Magpies.</span><br /><br /><span>Aly interviewed Lumumba for an episode of the popular Channel 10 show, and discussed the nickname.</span><br /><br /><span>The Project panellist Peter Helliar questioned the authenticity of Lumumba’s allegations, saying at the time “it would be really helpful if we heard more detail, especially with the nickname”.</span><br /><br /><span>The comedian also claimed Lumumba risked “smearing an entire club” if his story could not be proven true.</span><br /><br /><span>While Helliar has apologised on Twitter, there have been questions over whether Aly should follow suit for the doubt he put on some of the footy star’s allegations.</span></p>
<p><span><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7839818/daily.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/75d0433569904482876ac54a6d83dfce" /></span><br /><br /><span>Speaking on ABC’s <em>Offsiders</em>, veteran cricket journalist Gideon Haigh was one of the many who criticised those who casted doubt on the former AFL player.</span><br /><br /><span>“Was it ever seriously so difficult to believe Lumumba?” Haigh said on Sunday morning.</span><br /><br /><span>“It seems to me the journalists bought readily into the club’s campaign to discredit him because of their need for access, because of their general conformity and frankly their whiteness.”</span><br /><br /><span>Former Collingwood players Brent Macaffer, Leon David, Chris Dawes and Andrew Krakouer have all said they heard the nickname “Chimp”.</span><br /><br /><span>Former teammate Simon Buckley, who is Indigenous, responded to the Collingwood report by launching a scathing attack on Lumumba on Facebook.</span><br /><br /><span>“He made the nickname up for himself,” Buckley said in the since-deleted exchange.</span><br /><br /><span>“He was all for it when he was winning flags and playing well. He would refer to himself as chimp. He all of a sudden 10 years later wants to be a humanitarian.</span><br /><br /><span>“He never complained when he was winning flags and getting a kick himself and calling himself that name. Now all of a sudden he’s out of the media and wants to be back in the limelight and get a few bucks. Weak as p**s.</span><br /><br /><span>“If he wanted to preach about racism, he shoulda called it out at the time and not run with it and calling himself that for a laugh.”</span></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr">"The journalists bought readily into [Collingwood's] campaign to discredit [Lumumba] because of their need for access, because of their general conformity and, frankly, their whiteness."<br />Gideon Haigh takes a swipe at the media after the Collingwood racism report. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/offsiders?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#offsiders</a> <a href="https://t.co/jKTp0jBmVG">pic.twitter.com/jKTp0jBmVG</a></p>
— Offsiders ABC (@OffsidersABC) <a href="https://twitter.com/OffsidersABC/status/1358216262451568645?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2021</a></blockquote>
<p><br /><span>Lumumba later hit back at Buckley’s accusations, and claimed the nickname “began in 2005, during the pre-season and, no, I did not make it up myself”.</span><br /><br /><span>“Despite the nickname being overtly racist, unfortunately, it was not the worst facet of the interpersonal racism that I encountered during my 10 years at CFC. Within two months of me being at the club, I had already been exposed to a culture where racist ideas, in the form of jokes, stereotypes and direct abuse, was prevalent,” he posted.</span><br /><br /><span>Lumumba also clarified that at the time, he was just “a young man of 23-24 years of age, and had yet to understand the dangerous implications of the racism that was allowed to proliferate within the club’s culture”.</span></p>
