Chris Smith (broadcaster)

Christopher 'Chris' Smith is an Australian talkback radio broadcaster. He presents the 2GB Sydney afternoon show. His views may be considered to be generally right wing and neo-conservative.

Personal life

Chris Smith is the father of 2 children from his previous marriage to Ali Smith, which ended acrimoniously following accusations of alcoholism and sexual assault,..^[1] He is currently engaged to Australia Nutritionist and founder of Shape Me, Susie Burrell.^[2]

Mental Health and Alcoholism

Chris Smith has publicly addressed his alcoholism and mental health problems on a number of occasions. In an interview with the Daily telegraph, stating "I can never go back to that point. I've made some significant changes to my life. I think to a certain degree you have to hit ground zero before you do that." Smith has acknowledged that he was an alcoholic and that he also suffered bipolar disorder^[3]

Criminal Conviction for Fraud and Forgery

While working on A Current Affair in 1994, Smith was found to have forged the signature of Nine's corporate lawyer Jane Marquard to have a prisoner released from Mulawa Detention Centre for an interview. Smith was later charged by police and admitted forging the signature. Smith was suspended for almost a year while the criminal investigation was carried out. He was sentenced to serve two years in prison, suspended for two years. He returned to ACA as a producer, but not before he was exposed and mocked on Media Watch and in the media at large.^[4]

Sexual Misconduct and Dismissal

While working at A Current Affair in the late 90s, Smith attended the A Current Affair leaving party for Mike Willesee Jnr held in the Channel 9 boardroom at the Willoughby Studios. He is alleged to have exposed himself to a number of female employees. Two of them reported the incident, demanding an apology, but it was laughed off by program management who backed Smith. It took the two women complaining to network management for something to be done. It took a full two weeks for Smith to be fired. Both women left A Current Affair amidst talk of sizeable payouts and non-disclosure agreements. It was quite a fall for the ultimate ladies man who had relationships with at least three of his co-workers at A Current Affair - including Tara Brown to whom he was engaged for a short time.

Smith was then banished to China where he worked in English language radio.

In 2009, Chris Smith was suspended indefinitely from his role at the Macquarie Radio Network, following an incident at a 2GB party where he exposed himself to several women at the party, attempted to kiss a female colleague and sexually assaulted Network 10 journalist and meteorologist Magdalena Roze, after drinking for "an extended period of time". Smith admitted to misusing anti depressant medication,^[5] drinking heavily and claimed to have no recollection of the events.

In December 2009 Smith was reinstated and his contract extended, despite a number of female staff voicing concerns surrounding his on going conduct.^[6]

Smith later denied the assaults on air when questioned by a listener, asking him "where did you make these facts from?"[sic], threatening the listener to be "very careful what you read about private social events".^[7]

This was the second time Chris Smith had engaged in sexual misconduct in the workplace, after being fired from his role as Producer at channel 9's A Current Affair for exposing himself to four women at a farewell party in the main boardroom.^[8]

ACMA Censorship

In February 2011, Chris Smith ran a competition on his afternoon show called "Smithy's Mystery" which offered listeners movie tickets, books and DVDs if they could correctly guess how many Asylum seekers who died at sea would be buried in Sydney.^[9]

Sponsors reacted angrily, with both BBC Worldwide and publisher Pan Macmillan, which provided the prizes, expressing their shock at the quiz, saying they would never have allowed their brands to be part of it had they been aware.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority found the licensee of 2GB (Macquarie Radio Network) breached the Commercial Radio Code of Practice and Guidelines 2010 requirement that material broadcast must not offend generally accepted standards of decency, stating "offensive, in very bad taste, and that it should not have been broadcast".^[10]

References

External links

1. 2GB Biography

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