Lauren Brant has responded to the backlash over the vulgar on-air comments that saw her partner Barry Hall sacked from his radio over the weekend.

During Triple M’s live footy segment on Friday, ex AFL star Barry Hall, 41, made a “joke” about a birth-related procedure performed on the pregnant wife of ex-St Kilda player Leigh Montagna.

Mr Hall was immediately dropped from the show over the remark, which has since drawn widespread condemnation from members of the public and the media.

Ms Brant, 29, has now responded to the controversy surrounding her partner in a lengthy Instagram post, saying he doesn’t deserve to be “vilified” over a “silly conversation”.

Lauren wrote:

“Barry was involved in a silly conversation on air where he made a stupid comment.

“Although it was completely wrong, it was not intended to be a malicious statement and there was absolutely no thought or substance behind it. He fully admits that it was unacceptable, completely regrets it and has done his best to apologise for the offence he has caused.

“What I can not accept, is that he as a person is now being held as an example of what is wrong with this country in terms of its attitude towards women. He has lost his job because of it, our son and myself are being attacked (which is a whole other conversation, because how is verbally abusing a woman and innocent child an accepted response to someone being accused of being disrespectful to women?) and is getting labeled as something he is not.

“This is why I have to speak up. I have been in situations in this very country where I was the victim to sexual inequality and derogatoriness and was too scared to stand up for myself in fear of being viewed as the villain. Guess what? I was viewed as that anyway so really, I never stood a chance and it sent me into a depressed state for a long time.

A post shared by Lauren Brant (@laurenbrant) on Jun 20, 2018 at 4:08am PDT

“Because of it, when I met Barry, I had very suppressed demons inside of me and he was the only man I have ever come across who made me feel safe to talk, through his genuine respect for me. He gave me strength to love & believe in myself and has supported me to become my best version. Every single day he makes me feel loved and admired and on top of it all, he is the absolute best Dad in the world to our son.

“We have sat down and had a very long and honest conversation about how his actions have warranted a national response. We both know there is a problem and understand that people are trying to change it but solely vilifying Barry for this incident is not going to fix it. You have the wrong man for that.

“Everyone is very sensitive right now as no one wants to be viewed as doing something wrong in a time when we are trying to make things right, but we mustn’t let that blur the goal of making positive change by wasting time accusing individuals. Look what’s happened in this case, more people are focused on trolling Barry, myself and even our son than actually making a shift. The only positive to this all is that it has started a conversation on an important topic, which we will both be a part of, but I will not accept him being labelled as the problem.

“Barry is a beautiful man, the kindest I have ever met. He is honest, humble and fair. After suffering himself, he has become an advocate for people openly talking about their feelings without being scared to be viewed as ‘weak.’ He is hurting because of what the country is saying about him and how it is affecting our family.

“I love him and am eternally thankful to him for making me a confident women and empowering me and will always be by his side & I also want to thank all of those who have been sending messages of support, they have not gone unnoticed.”

  My usual approach towards media attention is to keep quite, however I can not do that this time round, because what is happening to my family is not ok. Barry was involved in a silly conversation on air where he made a stupid comment. Although it was completely wrong, it was not intended to be a malicious statement and there was absolutely no thought or substance behind it. He fully admits that it was unacceptable, completely regrets it and has done his best to apologise for the offence he has caused. What I can not accept, is that he as a person is now being held as an example of what is wrong with this country in terms of its attitude towards women. He has lost his job because of it, our son and myself are being attacked (which is a whole other conversation, because how is verbally abusing a woman and innocent child an accepted response to someone being accused of being disrespectful to women?) and is getting labeled as something he is not. This is why I have to speak up. I have been in situations in this very country where I was the victim to sexual inequality and derogatoriness and was too scared to stand up for myself in fear of being viewed as the villain. Guess what? I was viewed as that anyway so really, I never stood a chance and it sent me into a depressed state for a long time. Because of it, when I met Barry, I had very suppressed demons inside of me and he was the only man I have ever come across who made me feel safe to talk, through his genuine respect for me. He gave me strength to love & believe in myself and has supported me to become my best version. Every single day he makes me feel loved and admired and on top of it all, he is the absolute best Dad in the world to our son. We have sat down and had a very long and honest conversation about how his actions have warranted a national response. We both know there is a problem and understand that people are trying to change it but solely vilifying Barry for this incident is not going to fix it. You have the wrong man for that. [CONTINUED IN COMMENTS….   A post shared by Lauren Brant (@laurenbrant) on Jul 1, 2018 at 4:50am PDT

 The apology

Barry issued an apology for his actions in an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, describing himself as a “proud father” with “nothing but respect for women”.

“I’d like to take this opportunity to apologise for any offence taken from my commentary on Friday night’s Triple M footy coverage,” he said.

“It was a silly thing to say and it is not a reflection of who I am or what my views are.”

The backlash

Radio host, Meshel Laurie, shared her thoughts on the matter saying, “Here’s the trouble with making a rape joke on the radio during the footy the other night though, you were in people’s homes, in their cars, in their workplaces, in their safe places. Some of those people were rape survivors and you laughed at them about their rapes. Right there, where they least expected it, when they were relaxing with the footy, you laughed at their rapes.”

She added, “You didn’t do it because you’re a bad person mate, because you’re not. You did it because in your circles it’s obviously ok to tell jokes like that.”

Read her full post below…

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