- Banned from being elevated to Legend status
- He has not made any public statements since that move.
Wayne Carey has collapsed and stopped hosting his podcast after the AFL blocked him from the NSW Hall of Fame, leaving fans of the two-time premiership winner waiting for him to react to the scandal for the first time.
Carey was due to be elevated to Legend status at a function at the Sydney Cricket Ground in early May before the AFL intervened and blocked the honor at 11am.
The tip came so late that Carey and his partner Jessica Paulke had already arrived in Sydney, only to be ambushed by the news.
The AFL has taken a hardline stance on violence against women and felt it would be inappropriate to honor Carey given the shocking allegations leveled against him during and after his playing days.
However, that did not stop the league from allowing Carey to be inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame in 2010.
To date, Carey has not spoken about the AFL’s decision to exclude him from the NSW awards.
Wayne Carey and teammate Jessica Paulke arrived in Sydney for the New South Wales Hall of Fame ceremony (pictured) to be told the AFL had blocked their induction.
Carey has been a regular on the Truth Hurts podcast this year (pictured), but hasn’t been heard from recently.
Carey has not appeared on the podcast since being blocked from Legend status at the New South Wales Hall of Fame Awards.
He was expected to raise the issue on his podcast The Truth Hurts and posted on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that he was eager to speak on his show.
“For all fans and non-fans of The Truth Hurts, we will be back next Monday with the podcast,” he wrote on May 13.
‘The last two weeks have been a good time to reflect, recalibrate and revitalize for the future. See you next week bigger and better.’
However, Carey did not show up.
It means he has not joined his co-host Tony Sheahan on the podcast since the NSW Hall of Fame incident after having hosted a show every Monday.
Carey is usually outspoken and never shies away from giving an opinion on social media, but he has also boiled it down to just the post about returning to the podcast, some betting advice and a post defending St Kilda coach Ross Lyon.
In 1996, Carey admitted indecently assaulting a woman by grabbing her breast on a Melbourne street. The case was settled out of court.
Despite this, Carey led North Melbourne to an AFL grand final win over Sydney that same year and played 271 games in his career.
In 2002, Carey had an affair with the wife of his best friend and North Melbourne vice-captain Anthony Stevens.
In 2007, Carey was arrested in the United States for allegedly smashing a wine glass in his fiancée Kate Neilson’s face.
Neilson did not press charges, but said he was left “bleeding profusely from the mouth.”
Carey later pleaded guilty to two counts of assault on a law enforcement officer for fighting police after the incident.
In 2008, police used capsicum spray to subdue Carey after he assaulted officers in Port Melbourne.
Carey previously worked as an AFL commentator but was relieved of his duties at Channel 7.
Carey (pictured on a dating TV show) has been accused of a series of incidents involving violence against women from his playing days to his retirement from football.
AFL boss Andrew Dillon is leading a league-wide crackdown on violence against women and previously said Carey’s past did not align with the sport’s current values.
“The AFL recognizes the decision by a committee of people from the New South Wales football industry to recognize Wayne Carey’s contribution on the football field as part of the inaugural 100 members of the New South Wales Hall of Fame “Dillon said in a statement.
‘His contribution on the field is also the reason he was recognized in the AFL Hall of Fame in 2010. Yesterday afternoon, the AFL Executive was alerted to the Hall of Fame Committee’s decision to New South Wales that Carey was elevated to Legend status.
‘We didn’t think it was the right decision. I called Wayne Carey this morning to inform him of this and he agreed that becoming a Legend would detract from the event and the important focus on the national response to the issue of gender-based violence against women.’
