Mia Freedman Thursday 29 May 2008 4:14pm

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Now that sponsors are making noise and withdrawing advertising from the AFL Footy Show, Sam Newman is  suddenly being "rested’ from the show, effective immediately. You can see why, here.

My only sadness is that it wasn’t effective from, oh, five years ago.

According to reports today in the Fairfax press:

CHANNEL Nine has forced Sam Newman to take a break from
television after the furore over his treatment of women on The
Footy Show.Newman has also been told to attend counselling for
his recent behaviour, which included manhandling a lingerie-clad
mannequin he dressed as The Age’s chief football writer,
Caroline Wilson.

His behaviour prompted a group of the AFL’s most influential
women to complain to Nine boss David Gyngell and call for the cast
of The Footy Show to receive counselling.

Newman responded by calling the women "liars and hypocrites" and
saying that women "served very little purpose" in football.

One of the signatories of the letter to Gyngell, Western
Bulldogs board member Susan Alberti, is suing Nine, Newman and the
show’s co-host Garry Lyon for defamation over the remarks.

The Age last week revealed that ANZ had redirected its
advertising on Nine away from the show. It also reported that
ratings had plummeted since the mannequin stunt.

Nine executive director Jeff Browne told the Herald Sun
that Nine should not have allowed Newman to return to television so
soon after prostate surgery. He also broke an ankle while lifting
weights earlier this month.

"In order to allow Sam to return to full health without the
stress of having to perform on live television each week, I have
directed him to take a break from The Footy Show," he
said.

"As a component of this rehabilitation, I have arranged for Sam
to undergo counselling to address, with professional assistance,
the behaviour and issues that have attended what I now believe to
be his premature return to the program."

Last week’s show was watched by 380,000 people, a drop of 15%
since March 27, the week before the stunt, when an average of
457,000 people tuned in.

[thanks, margaret]