Kyle and Jackie O’s lie detector test reveals a tragic rape – who’s to blame and what’s next?

In case you missed it yesterday, a storm has erupted after Kyle and Jackie O did a stunt on their radio show that went horribly wrong. Actually, that's not entirely accurate. The fact the segment happened at all was horribly wrong.

The segment was one they do regularly – a lie detector test. It's all very Jerry Springer – dysfunctional families and couples exposing their dysfunciton live on the radio (why? WHY???)……

In this case, the mother of a 14 year old girl claimed to be concerned about her daughter's behaviour and wanted to quiz her about sex, drugs and partying.

The girl was not keen to participate and when pushed to speak, revealed live on air that she had been raped when she was 12. Most sickening, was the way she prefaced this revelation with the words to her mother: "I’ve already told you the story about this … and don’t look at me and smile because it’s not funny."

After a pause she then raised her voice and said: "Oh OK … I got raped when I was 12 years old."

Sandilands paused before asking "Right … is that the only experience you’ve had?"

The girl’s mother interrupted, saying she found out about the rape only "a couple of months ago". That in itself is almost too tragic to contemplate. That she found out that her daughter had been raped, did nothing about it and then dragged her onto a radio show to discuss it as part of a stunt. Dear lord, how are some people allowed to have children…..

Jackie O then said they would drop the lie detector test as they had been unaware of the rape incident.

An Australian Communications and Media Authority spokesman said it had received "several" phone calls and written letters of complaint about the segment.

You can hear the segment here.

Austereo's General Manager Jenny Parkes said:

Meanwhile, Kyle has written a piece for The Punch website, explaining what happened from his point of view. He writes….

This story is just so deeply wrong on so very many levels, it's difficult to know where to even begin to unpack it…..

For me, Kyle's initial reaction and what he said is immaterial. I believe he was shocked and it was live and those words just came out. But why was it live? Why wasn't there a delay? Why was a 14 year old girl allowed to be questioned by her mother on radio about her sex life?

To think Kyle and Jackie did it deliberately, KNOWING the girl had been raped in a bid to generate this publicity is ridiculous. I don't believe that. But the segment – with a lie detector revealing outrageous, personal things IS a ratings stunt. It's obvious they wanted the girl and mother to talk about sex and THAT is what's wrong. Dear lord, do we want to be listening to 14 year olds discussing sex over our Cornflakes?

Clearly, this is the Chaser moment this show had to have – when a line is crossed, a boundary pushed and the general public push back with tremendous, angry force. I wonder what will happen next? Probably nothing.

UPDATE: I've spent the morning – like many I imagine – tuning in to see what Kyle and Jackie would say about what happened. Much of the show was spent talking about the MEDIA reaction to what happened but they certainly didn't shy away from the criticism.
What disheartened – and infuriated – me, was the way the whole thing was somehow twisted into "isn't it great that this girl and her family now have the help and support they need". From DOCS. From the police. From counsellors. The vast majority of callers seemed to agree with this.

What disturbs me is the way everyone was so dismissive of the WAY this went down. So few people calling into the show seem to comprehend that it was always wrong and exploitative to strap a vulnerable and obviously troubled 14 year old (that was the whole premise of her being there – that she was troubled) and ask her questions about sex. If her mother was not able to see that was outrageous and damaging, how could none of the other adults involved have seen that?

And what were the mother's motivations? All this talk about how she wanted to help her daughter? Really? Or did she just want the attention and micro-celebrity that comes from being on a radio show? Issues as complex as this – and those of all the other dysfunctional families who parade on the show to air their personal dramas – cannot be resolved publicly in a 3 minute radio segment shared with the world.

EARLIER ON MAMAMIA…

Kyle tells Jackie O she's fat and makes her cry

Kicking sexism where it hurts – in the wallet