Ben Fordham has called out his Nine co-worker, Jimmy Paton, over his outburst at the Rugby union on the weekend.
During the match, Paton, a 2GB sales representative, yelled at England rugby coach Eddie Jones, “You are a traitor.”
His words got a reaction from the coach, who responded with, “What did you say? What did you say? Come here and say it. Come here and say it. Come here and say it.”
Security ultimately had to intervene and get the two men to walk away from each other.
It’s worth acknowledging that Jones is an Australian coaching an English team hence the sledge. The footage went viral and circulated online, and now Fordham has now denounced Paton’s outburst.
Got what he deserved from Eddie pic.twitter.com/lUrtzrsB5h
— Adam Peacock (@adampeacock3) July 17, 2022
According to news.com.au, Fordham said: “There was mixed feedback about the incident on the air yesterday with some saying Eddie Jones overreacted, and he probably did.
“He probably would’ve been wise just to move on because you hear all sorts of crazy things at the football.
“But that doesn’t excuse the actions of the idiot who called him a traitor because it’s one of those highly charged words.
“If you’re a proud Australian, you’re not going to want to hear someone calling you a traitor, and that’s why I called the fan an idiot yesterday, and on this occasion, we need to own the fact that the idiot works for us.”
Interestingly, being called out by Fordham might not even be the worst thing that happens to Paton this week. The Australian has reported that he might receive a five-year ban from the rugby over his verbal spray.
Still, Fordham’s honesty is probably why he keeps winning the radio ratings. He calls it as he sees it.
But, I also have to point out that it is interesting that two men who work in the same industry can have a disagreement and that no one is calling it catfight.
