Did you see it? I didn’t catch it live but a friend texted me immediately to tell me about Lisa Wilkinson’s grilling of Matthew Newton on this morning’s Today show. Soon after, several readers emailed me to tell me and asked me to post about it.
The backstory is that in 2006, Matthew Newton was charged with ‘intimidation and assault occasioning actual bodily harm’ over incidents involving his then-girlfriend, actress Brooke Satchwell that occurred in September and October that year.
According to the SMH in 2007:
A Sydney judge has quashed an assault conviction against entertainer Matthew Newton. The 30-year-old was placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond in June for the assault of his former lover actress Brooke Satchwell.
Newton today appealed against the conviction, claiming the assault was a one-off and partly due to ongoing mental health issues.
The son of TV legends Bert and Patti Newton pleaded guilty to the assault charge. During his sentencing hearing in June the court was told he punched and pushed Satchwell into a wall at their former home in Rozelle on September 13 last year.
However, during that hearing, the court was also told Newton sought medical help before and after the assault as he had realised he was suffering from some sort of emotional problem or breakdown. Acting Judge Joseph Moore has agreed with references tendered to the court that described Newton as a “kind, giving gentleman”.
He told the court a conviction would continue to have a life-long effect not only for Newton’s reputation in Australia but also his chances overseas.He said Newton had suffered severe shame personally and felt remorse for the attention he has brought on this family and friends.The judge then upheld the appeal.
An apprehended violence order taken out against Newton by police acting on Satchwell’s behalf remains unchanged.
This morning on Today, during an interview to promote his new film, Lisa asked him some questions about this period in his life. Matthew Newton was not happy. You can watch the clip here.…fast forward to about the 3:20 mark for the uncomfortable exchange.
After seeing it live, reader Sian, emailed me this:
Just wondering if you saw the interview Lisa Wilkinson did of Matt Newton on the Today Show this morning? Was pretty good as Wilkinson put Newton on the spot a bit, trying to get some kind of comment about his ‘domestic violence incident’ with his ex-girlfriend Brooke Satchwell (sp?).
Newton responded that it was personal and he doesn’t talk about his personal life. Is domestic violence personal? Hasn’t one of the aims of feminism for 40+ years been to get this kind of thing treated as political and public rather than as a private matter?
It was refreshing to see a more substantial interview on morning TV, but it would’ve been nice to see Wilkinson push him a bit more (Andrew Denton style!), but I guess it might not have been appropriate for the format. (She trod a fine line as it was and managed to keep things friendly and polite by including plenty of flattery of his talents. I hope she does more interviews with depth as she’s obviously good at it.)
I think he would be able to get past the whole issue if he’d manage to talk about it at least a tiny bit, even just to acknowledge poor judgment, or something. But he just manages to leave the impression that he believes he did nothing wrong; which leaves me very disinterested in any of his acting or directing.
Since when is a domestic violence incident comparable to a wedding night?! You would hope the two would have nothing in common whatsoever!
Also, he said something along the lines that the incident had nothing to do with who he is. That might be a comfortable way for him to think about it, but seems like a strange and convenient sort of disassociation from something you would think he regrets.
Fair enough that he doesn’t want to be defined by one particular incident. But I don’t think it’s good enough to say “that wasn’t the real me”.
What do you think? And I wonder what happened when the interview was over?
As Kevin Rudd has said today – in response to news that one of his MPs was hospitalised yesterday after an alleged assault by her partner who has now been charged:
“Acts of violence against women are cowardly acts by men and have no place, no place, in modern Australia. That’s why I’ve said time and time and time again that the only
attitude we can have to this sort of violence is a policy of zero
tolerance.”
Top Comments
I work with drug addicts who have committed crimes every day. I have the deepest respect for those i work with, and spend many days, and much blood, sweat and tears to assist those i work with to become who they want to be. I say that in the context i what i am about to say. Anyone who has worked in this field for some time knows that a large part of being stuck in addiction is the continual lying and manipulating of those around you. Removing yourself from the problem, intellectualising, and so on. Mr Newton's behaviour is classic in this sense, and he clearly needs a long and intensive recovery program before he causes any more damage to those around him. I think it sends a terrible message having him in the public domain like this, someone who appears to have so little insight and be causing so much damage in the process. I hope those around him don't protect him from making the hard decisions and getting the help he clearly needs.
i think if you are a household name going on live national television then you need to be prepared for anything to happen....