Kyle Sandilands went to war with News Corp on Wednesday after a columnist called for him to be sacked from KIIS FM for making ‘dangerous’ statements about his mental health issues on air.
Now, Kyle’s manager, Bruno Bouchet, has defended his client and longtime friend, describing the News.com.au article as ‘damaging’ and ‘disingenuous’.
‘What [the journalist] is doing is very disingenuous to any discussions about mental health to say that if you are suffering mental health you must be taken off air, you cannot make your living, you cannot have your livelihood because you’re dealing with mental issues,’ Bruno said on the Ben, Rob & Robbo Show.
‘Disingenuous’: Kyle Sandilands’ (right) manager, Bruno Bouchet (left), has blasted News Corp after a columnist called for the radio host to be sacked from KIIS FM for making ‘dangerous’ statements about his mental health issues on air
News Corp had published the article in response to Kyle’s on-air revelation on Monday that he was battling profound loneliness and depression.
The radio host had confessed he felt ‘very sad’ and ‘let down’ by those he once considered friends.
Referring to Sunday night’s 60 Minutes interview – in which he’d cried over a mystery health condition that later turned out to be a joke – he said: ‘The truth as to why I was so able to cry, like all that breakdown stuff so easy, was because inside I’m very sad.’
Secret struggle: ‘Inside my person, I’m very sad,’ Kyle said on Monday, adding that he had been ‘let down’ by those he once considered friends. Pictured with Jackie ‘O’ Henderson (right)
A day later, Kyle joked that he regretted disclosing his mental illness because he was sick of being bombarded with messages of support from friends.
The News Corp journalist subsequently reported that Kyle’s actions had ‘trivialised mental health and pilloried those who had reached out to offer him support in the wake of his vulnerability.’
Bruno, a former KIIS FM radio producer, argued that the article actually did a great disservice to the way mental illness is discussed in the Australian media.
‘You couldn’t have found a more supportive person’: Bruno also revealed how Kyle had helped him during a mental health crisis which saw him admitted to a psychiatric ward for eight week
‘I think having a go at how someone genuinely is dealing with their own mental illness, I think that’s equally damaging,’ he said.
Bruno also spoke about his own struggles with mental health, revealing that he had once been admitted to a psychiatric facility for eight weeks.
Revealing how Kyle had supported him during that difficult time, he added: ‘You couldn’t have found a more supportive person than Kyle, whom I spoke to every day and who dealt with me in his normal approach.’
In his corner: Bruno has known Kyle for more than a decade, and was previously the executive producer of The Kyle and Jackie O Show
Bruno has known Kyle for more than a decade, having previously worked as executive producer of The Kyle and Jackie O Show.
He now works as the shock jock’s publicist, and is also the managing director of his company King Kyle Pty Ltd.
Fellow media personality Meshel Laurie has also publicly defended Kyle in the wake of News Corp’s controversial article.
Hitting out: Fellow media personality Meshel Laurie (pictured) has also publicly defended Kyle in the wake of News Corp’s controversial article
She described the story as ‘grotesque’, and said Kyle had been unfairly attacked by the journalist for simply showing his emotional vulnerability.
‘Calling for Kyle to be sacked for speaking publicly, in his own emotionally stunted way, further stigmatises speaking out, and above all, admitting to work colleagues and employers that we’re struggling,’ she said.
On Wednesday, Kyle sensationally blasted News Corp over the article, launching into a 19-minute spray in which he branded the company ‘disgraceful’ for suggesting that he should be ‘pulled off air for a psychological assessment’.
‘You make me sick’: On Wednesday, Kyle sensationally blasted News Corp over the article, launching into a 19-minute spray in which he branded the company ‘disgraceful’ for suggesting that he should be ‘pulled off air for a psychological assessment’
Refusing to pull any punches, Kyle accused News Corp of ‘gross misconduct’.
‘I know that News Corp owns 15 per cent of this company, and I wish that I could buy your 15 per cent back, because working for you makes me sick,’ he said.
‘You are a disgraceful company and you know that people’s health, mental health and life is at stake and you just decided to run your little scandalous articles anyway.
‘It’s just a gross misconduct of journalistic privilege.’
Fake news: Refusing to pull any punches, Kyle accused News Corp of ‘gross misconduct’