Abbey Gelmi has opened up about some of the embarrassing behavior she has been subjected to during her career and how she once received an unsolicited ‘cursed photo’ after she started working for Fox Sports.
His revelations came during a discussion about the recent GWS Giants ‘Wacky Wednesday’ scandal at the Two good sports podcast.
Seven Giants players received bans and six others were fined for their costumes and participation in a variety of skits.
The AFL revealed last week that Josh Fahey would receive the harshest ban, with the league claiming he had performed inappropriate acts with a sex doll during a skit.
Several of the team’s veteran players, including captain Toby Greene, were each fined $5,000 for failing to show proper leadership.
The effects of the match scandal have reverberated across football and beyond, with GWS AFLW captain Rebecca Beeson saying members of her team were “deeply hurt and angry” after learning of the events. Giants women’s team coach Cam Bernasconi revealed the toll events had taken on his side, stating it had been “a really tough week” and that “the whole AFLW program was really disappointed with the actions.” of what happened.” .’
Along with co-host Georgie Tunney, Gelmi also opened up about the aftermath of the Giants party and talked about how they once sent him crude messages during the early part of his career.
“We have mentioned, Georgie, the effect of this,” the broadcaster said in reference to the GWS match.
Channel Seven reporter Abbey Gelmi opened up about how she once sent her an unsolicited ‘cursed photo’ by
‘We’ve both worked in sport and we both started in sport as very young women and people who say “let kids be kids, this is fun”, all that kind of stuff is our audience.
‘When I was 22 or 23… I read my first newsletter for Fox Sports News. I had done two races to get to that point. I moved from one state to another. I had followed the sport my whole life and I was very proud of myself and very excited for that opportunity.
“I then returned to my desk, where part of my role at the time was also to monitor the Fox Sports social media account… and I received a direct message to my personal account, which at the time wasn’t even there.” Really a public figure anyway, and I opened it up and there was a picture of ad***…again (aged) 22 or 23 and I was just doing my job.
“And that for me was the beginning of over a decade of realizing that if I’m going to be a woman in sport, this is something I’m going to have to tolerate.”
The players and the club have since “unreservedly apologized for their behaviour”.
There is no indication that any criminal acts were committed by the GWS players. The club and the AFL had conducted an investigation into the event, which occurred in a private room at a pub in Sydney, and the findings cleared the players of any criminal activity.
But their actions were condemned by the club and AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon, who said the players “made terrible decisions” and added their actions were “completely unacceptable”.
GWS AFLW captain Beeson added in a statement on the club’s website: “As a group of AFLW players, we believe it is of great importance to emphasize that behavior that includes references to gender-based violence is completely unacceptable under any circumstance.”
Gelmi, originally from Western Australia, is one of the country’s leading television presenters. He currently works for Seven News and Seven’s AFL halftime and post-game show.
In the past he has also covered the Summer and Winter Olympics and worked on a variety of sports from cricket to horse racing.
Gelmi spoke about the effects the recent GWS Giants match scandal has on the wider Australian community.
Gelmi, originally from Western Australia, is one of the country’s leading television presenters. He currently works for Seven News and Seven’s AFL halftime and post-game show.
During the Two Good Sports podcast he also spoke about the effects that this type of behavior could have, considering the domestic violence crisis in Australia.
“The reason the domino effect is terrifying to me is because there is a Respect Victoria campaign right now to call it out,” he said.
‘There’s a line in there that says, “Not all disrespect ends in violence, but all violence against women begins with disrespect.”
‘We live in a culture in Australia where there is an increase in violence against women around the AFL Grand Final, around the NRL Grand Final and around State of Origin, those are facts. And if they say, “Well, this was behind closed doors,” do you know where women are least safe in this country? At his house. And this idea that it’s fun for a group of men, and it’s not just women who were victims of this, but it’s minorities as a rule…
“And what turns my stomach, again I consume a lot of this, is in my work, and in people’s response calls during the week, and even listening to my male colleagues who took a strong stance on the radio, saying This isn’t funny, this isn’t right, to genuinely say we’re looking at the text line and the messages coming in, I have to be honest, it’s scary.
According The ageFahey had allegedly dressed as former NRL player Jarryd Hayne, and the AFL did not reveal the full nature of his outfit, but claimed in a statement that the GWS player had dressed as a former NRL player.
The former Parramatta player was sentenced to a maximum sentence of four years in prison in 2023 for sexual assault. Earlier this year, an appeals court overturned rape and assault charges brought against the 36-year-old, and Hayne was subsequently released from jail and the charges against him were later dropped.
The AFL also claimed that two GWS stars, Toby McMullin and Cooper Hamilton, dressed up as the World Trade Center and simulated the 9/11 terrorist attack in New York. Meanwhile, a reference to disgraced musician Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is also alleged to have been made during one of the skits.
Gelmi added: ‘Jokes about rape, terrorism and racism, in any context, are not funny. We are in 2024.’
He also opened up about some of the other nasty messages he received during his time in broadcasting.
“I’ve gotten messages my entire career about how I look,” Gelmi said.
‘Whether I use enough or if I use too much is always what I get. People say, “You’re a prude, you dress less.”
‘Even with this podcast, a few weeks ago Laura and I broached an issue about where the AFL Grand Final should be, and I argued that it should stay at the MCG, and someone thought I was arguing against them.
“The line at the end was, ‘Keep playing sports, you know?’ and I just said, ‘If I were a guy, you wouldn’t say you’re still playing sports, you know?'”
‘The comments that come in direct messages as a woman in sports always have a gender. I see the pioneers, your Kelli Underwoods, these women who have overcome all this shit to be able to play sports, it doesn’t matter what they do, they are still going to overcome it because of their gender.’
Tunney, who works for Network 10’s The Project and also appears on ABC’s News Breakfast, added: “This is just another example of the world telling us that sport is not for us, or for girls.”
‘It is not for women and that is why this is our response.
Gelmi (right) spoke alongside Georgie Tunney (left) on the Two Good Sports podcast.
“I’ve been trying to debate the idea of why this case, of these Giants players acting the way they did, has impacted me more than others because this is not the first time the codes have let us down.
“This is not the first time that teams have let us down and it is certainly not the first time nor will it be the last that players have let us down.”
‘It’s a bigger mirror, football in general is a mirror of society. So what we’re seeing from those guys and what they consider to be funny and an inconsequential skit, is essentially society once again telling us that sport is not for us, sport is not for women, that they are not really welcome. here. , unless you want to be the butt of the joke.
