EXCLUSIVE
Sports journalist Paul Kent was visited by an entourage of friends and a doctor after he hit his head on the road during a wild brawl, before his supporters staged a bizarre distraction to help him evade media waiting outside from his house.
The Fox Sports commentator was suspended from his role on NRL360 on Sunday after footage posted online showed Kent fighting with a younger man outside the Totti’s location in Rozelle, in Sydney’s inner west, on Saturday night. .
In the clip, the 54-year-old can be heard shouting “dog head” before attacking the other man, who throws the TV presenter head-first into a manhole.
Kent, who was suspended by the station for nine months after being accused of assaulting and choking his ex-girlfriend, was not reinstated as the show’s co-host until February, after being cleared of the charges.
Five friends, each driving separate cars, attacked each other consecutively at Kent’s home in Lilyfield, in Sydney’s inner west, on Sunday morning, moments after it emerged the journalist had been suspended.
Paul Kent (right) has been recalled for the late-night altercation in which he was thrown headlong into the sewer.
Friends are seen at Paul Kent’s home in Lilyfield on Sunday after he was suspended by Fox Sport.
A colleague (pictured) said Kent was “fine” but a little sore and “fed up with people calling him names”.
A doctor with medical equipment is seen leaving Kent’s home on Sunday.
A friend escorted the doctor out of the house through a door that leads to a back alley.
A friend clutching a can of coke (pictured) picked up Kent in a ute while another mate created a distraction.
The first man to arrive could be seen suspiciously scanning the street for journalists before entering the $2.35 million Kent property, holding a small white paper bag full of supplies.
Once the men were inside, a sixth man, a doctor, arrived at the house in a black Mercedes. Kent’s friends then accompanied the doctor, who was carrying a stethoscope and a bag full of medical supplies, to the property through a back alley.
Approximately 40 minutes later, one of the men, who had been observed entering the house perfectly well, limped out of the house with a shirt covering his head to hide his face, in what appeared to be an attempt to pretend he was Kent.
He then erected a wooden board in the narrow hallway that runs the length of the property to obscure the view of the rear garage door, which opens to a back alley.
The man then began limping at a glacial pace down the hall toward the reporters, before reaching the halfway point and then returning to the house.
Aware that the strange ploy was a decoy, reporters ran to the back alley, where Kent was seen being carried from the scene in the passenger seat of a friend’s truck.
After Kent resigned, his supporters slowly began leaving the property to leave.
Half a dozen people were seen entering Kent’s $2.35 million property Sunday, which neighbors have described as a party house.
A friend who appeared to pose as an injured Kent (pictured) to help the commentator flee the house through a back alley.
NSW Police were called to the scene of the melee (pictured) and have since launched an investigation.
Wild scenes erupted outside a pub in Evans Street, Rozelle, shortly after 11pm on Saturday night.
Two friends said Kent was “fine” but declined to comment on what caused the fight.
One of the men joked that Kent had left the house to go to Garry Owens, a pub the commentator frequents in Rozelle, for “a drink”.
Another friend who visited the house told Daily Mail Australia that Kent was “fine” but was “fed up with being insulted by ‘people on the street’ who had heard about the melee.”
“It’s a little sore,” the man said.
“He would like some privacy.”
New South Wales Police told Daily Mail Australia on Sunday morning that they were aware of the video and have since launched an investigation.
Police also confirmed that officers attended the scene of the melee which took place on Evans Street at around 11.20pm on Saturday night.
“As part of this investigation, officers attached to Leichhardt Police Area Command spoke to a number of people and secured CCTV,” a statement read.
Meanwhile, neighbors have revealed that loud parties are frequently held at Kent’s house that last until the early hours of the morning.
The two men became involved in the altercation outside Totti’s Sydney location in Rozelle.
A video clip of what appears to be Paul Kent involved in a fight has emerged on social media.
One woman told Daily Mail Australia there is always a “revolving door” of people coming in and out of the Kent property, including men and women.
“The parties are always very loud and they go on and on,” he said.
The woman said she had called the police several times in the past because of the rowdy gatherings.
Another neighbor said she was kept awake until 2 a.m. on Saturday last month by loud music.
However, neighbors said the house was quiet over the weekend and they did not observe any police visiting the house.
The scandal erupted after footage of the brutal fight began circulating on X on Sunday morning.
In the video, Kent’s associates could be seen attempting to intervene before he began exchanging blows with the other man in the middle of the street.
In a statement to Daily Mail Australia, a spokesperson said: “Fox Sports presenter and News Corp Australia columnist Paul Kent has been stood down pending an immediate investigation.”
Two friends, including the man who created the diversion, are seen leaving Kent’s home in Lilyfield on Sunday.
A friend (pictured) claimed Kent was back in the pub “having a drink” hours after being injured in the fight.
Kent was removed from his News Corp newspaper column and his role on NRL360 in 2023 after he was charged with common assault and intentional suffocation of a person without consent.
He was found not guilty of allegations he attacked and strangled his then partner Lucy Kennedy, 33, at their home in Sydney’s inner west on December 12.
After a two-day hearing at Sydney’s Downing Center Local Court, magistrate Daniel Reiss told the court he could not find the charges were proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
Kent, who was driving limousines for a Sydney funeral company while awaiting trial, told media he was eager to return to a “normal life” following his acquittal in December.
“The judge accepted what happened to the point that my lawyer didn’t even have to give a final summary,” he said at the time.
“It’s been seven months that I’ve had to sit there and feel like I’ve been wrongfully arrested (and) accused, and I’ve had to sit there and have our public reputation lacerated by people who have used it as an opportunity.” .
‘The truth is finally out there. It has been a great cost for me, it has been a great setback in my life. But we all have our struggles in life.
‘This is mine currently, so now it’s up to me to regroup and get back to my normal life. I can finally leave all this behind.’
Kent told the media he just wanted to return to a “normal” life after the verdict in Sydney in December.