The Aria awards have come under fire for not including in its televised broadcast an acceptance speech by comedian Matt Okine in which he called out sexism in his industry.
Accepting the award for best comedy release – beating Bondi Hipsters, Buddy Goode, Ronny Chieng and Sammy J & Randy to the pointy statue – the Triple J presenter used his speech to highlight how there wasn’t a single woman nominated in the category.
“I didn’t feel great reading that list of people,” he told the audience at Sydney Star casino.
Matt Okine wins best comedy & makes the point there wasn't a single woman nominated. It's 2015. Nervous silence from the power seats #ARIAs
— Bernard Zuel (@BernardZuel) November 26, 2015
Okine later told reporters backstage he felt “silly” about his speech but it was everyone’s duty to speak up about gender inequality.
“Now I feel silly and judged about it ... but I feel like, what am I supposed to do? Be passive about it? [Speaking up] is absolutely necessary.
“I think a lot of guys my age, you think you’re doing enough by not doing anything bad. I don’t hit women, I don’t discriminate.”
Okine said White Ribbon Day on 25 November, which is dedicated to raising awareness around domestic violence, had him wondering if he was doing enough. “[Rugby Union player] David Pocock chains himself to a tree. What am I doing? I’ve got to start [doing something].”
Okine said if he didn’t get asked back to the Arias, “that’s fine”.
Some viewers tweeted their disappointment that Okine’s speech wasn’t included in Channel Ten’s nationwide broadcast of the music industry awards ceremony.
"Yeah let's cut out the only intelligent thing anyone's gonna say all night out of the broadcast"-#ARIAs @mattokine https://t.co/s1elQL09lJ
— Dave (@davegrohlbloom) November 26, 2015
Disappointed at #ARIAs for not playing @mattokine acceptance speech. How about embracing gender equality & maybe the industry can progress?
— Silvia Pinneri (@siilvp) November 26, 2015
For the sake of brevity, the national broadcast of the Arias never includes all the awards presented in the show.
