The latest misdemeanour from Kyle Sandilands continues to cause trouble for Austereo. Sandiland’s response to a negative report on television special Kyle & Jackie O’s Night with the Stars continues to attract traditional and social media attention.

The television show

On Monday Kyle & Jackie O's Night With the Stars aired on Channel 7. Starting out with over one million viewers, only 200,000 were still watching by the show’s close.

The negative report

On Tuesday News.com.au reported the show’s failure: Feel the love: Twitter critics call Kyle and Jackie O's TV show a disaster.

The retaliation on 2dayFM

Sandilands responded to the piece on Tuesday on 2dayFM’s The Kyle and Jackie O Show, naming writer Alison Stephenson, and referring to her as, “Some fat slag”, continuing in his commentary including: “What a fat bitter thing you are, you deputy editor of an online thing. You’ve got a nothing job anyway. You’re a piece of shit.”; “I can tell you, you are supposed to be impartial, you little troll.”; “You’re a bullshit artist, girl. That’s what you are. You should be fired from your job. And your hair. Your hair is very 90s.”; “You haven’t got that much titty to be wearing that low cut a blouse. Watch your mouth, girl, or I will hunt you down.”

Response from news.com.au

It wasn’t until Wednesday morning that Editor, David Penberthy posted an article on The Punch, A hole in his head where his brain should be . (You can read more about the delayed reaction here.) 

Penberthy’s opinion of Sandilands includes: that he is a, “dopey little grub’; “Kyle is about as funny as the hole he has in his head where other people keep their brains.”; “I have never had the misfortune of meeting this oxygen thief. I have worked with a number of people who have upset him and been on the receiving end of one of his sprays. The thing which is really interesting is that, in every case, these people have all been women.”’ “This is because Sandilands is a dictionary definition misogynist.”; and “The bloke is a piece of shit.”

Media

Since Wednesday hundreds of news articles have appeared on the Sandilands saga, including on the front pages of major Australian newspapers.

Twitter

‘Sandilands’, ‘Kyle Sandilands’ and recent hashtag #vilekyle have steadily trended in Australia since Wednesday morning, and #vilekyle remains at number one as at 5:30pm on Thursday, 24 November 2011.

Celebrities, journalists and public have weighed in on the discussion. Wil_Anderson commented via Twitter, “At least if Kyle does hunt down everyone who has said something bad about him, he won’t have time to do anymore TV and radio.” Ruby Rose has started discussion through Twitter, saying that although she doesn’t agree with Sandilands’ behaviour, “I am sending love light and strength to the columnist who over night has become a house hold name and to Kyle for what must be a tough time.” Rose has effectively engaged with followers who differ in opinion.

Timing

Kyle’s comments fall in the week of White Ribbon Day – a campaign to stop violence against women. His comments about Stephenson, particularly his remark, “hunt you down,” have been used as an example of how not to treat women, giving the incident more coverage.

Petition

A petition on Change.org urging sponsors of and advertisers on the Kyle and Jackie O show to withdraw their support currently has 14,000 signatures. 

Loss of sponsorship

To date advertisers and sponsors including: Blackmores, Crazy Johns, GIO, Holden, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Telstra and Toys”R”Us are reported to have withdrawn their support of The Kyle and Jackie O show. Holden and Blackmores have successfully used the decision to engage with their twitter audience.

The coming days will reveal Austereo's response to the saga, and no doubt further distancing by sponsors and advertisers from Sandilands.

Trendsmap.com as at 6.15pm, 24 November 2011