It was Australian television’s night of night’s last night. With the 2023 Logies came all the glitz, glamour and triumph that one has come to expect. However, the ceremony was not without controversy. In the wake of Sonia Kruger’s Gold Logie win, many people have been voicing their opinions about the Channel 7 host. Spoiler alert: they’re not happy. Twitter was quick to condemn her win, labelling Kruger as a “racist” and an “Islamophobe” who did not deserve to be nominated for a Logie, let alone win. Meanwhile, others have speculated that her win was due in great part to her relationship with Craig McPherson. If you’re not across any of this, don’t worry. Here’s why Sonia Kruger is facing backlash for her 2023 Gold Logie win.
Sonia Kruger Faces Backlash for 2023 Gold Logie Win
After winning the Gold Logie, Kruger was met with immediate backlash online, as many slammed her as “racist”, “Islamophobic” and “xenophobic”.
“Racist ‘stars’ are well looked after in Racist Australia,” one person tweeted.
“Monday: a great day not to celebrate #SoniaKruger cos she’s xenophobic and is given a platform to yell islamophobic comments,” said another.
Others recalled Kruger’s call for a ban on “Muslim immigration”, while another quipped that “next year probably #PaulineHanson will be handed a golden logie”.
Others were quick to point out that Sonia Kruger is in a romantic relationship with Craig McPherson, who is the Director of News and Public Affairs at Channel 7. The 2023 Logie Awards were held on Channel 7, and Kruger is a staple of the network’s reality television offerings. Currently, she hosts “The Voice Australia”, “Dancing With the Stars”, and “Big Brother Australia”.
What Did Sonia Kruger Say About Muslim People?
In 2016, Sonia Kruger faced immense backlash for comments she made while working on the Nine Network’s “Today Show”.
In the segment, Kruger said that she agreed with “Herald Sun” columnist Andrew Bolt, who had recently published an opinion piece in which he argued that “the more Muslims we import, the more danger we are in”.
“Personally I think Andrew Bolt has a point here, that there is a correlation between the number of people who … are Muslim in a country and the number of terrorist attacks,” Kruger began.
“Now I have a lot of very good friends who are Muslim, who are peace-loving who are beautiful people, but there are fanatics,” she continued.
Kruger went on to say, “Look at Japan. Japan has a population of 174 million, it has 100,000 people in that country who are Muslim. We never hear of terrorist attacks in Japan.”
Of Muslim immigration, Kruger said: “Personally I would like to see it stopped now for Australia. Because I want to feel safe, as all of our citizens do, when they go out to celebrate Australia Day. And I’d like to see freedom of speech… “
“Today” co-host David Campbell pushed back, noting that he’d “like to see freedom of religion”. Campbell then slammed Bolt’s article as the kind of thing that “breeds hate”.
“Today” host Lisa Wilkinson asked Kruger to clarify that she “would like our borders closed to Muslims at this point”, to which Kruger replied, “Yes, I would”.
“I think we have something like 500,000 (Muslims) now in our country,” she said, “but for the safely of the citizens here, I think it’s important.”
Sonia Kruger “Vilified” Muslim People, Tribunal Finds
In the wake of the “Today” segment backlash, Sam Ekermawi, a member of the Muslim community who has lived in Australia since 1960, lodged a complaint against Kruger with the Anti-Discrimination Board.
In his complaint, Ekermawi argued that both Kruger and the Nine Network had racially vilified Muslim Australians.
He did not seek a payout in the claim, but did want an apology from Kruger and the network.
In 2019, the tribunal found that Kruger had “vilified” Muslims living in Australia. The civil and administrative tribunal of New South Wales ruled that: “In our view, such remarks would likely encourage hatred towards, or serious contempt for, Australian Muslims by ordinary members of the Australian population.”
However, the complaint was ultimately dismissed, and Kruger was found not guilty of racial vilification.
“The evidence does not support a finding that Muslims living in Australia are a ‘race’ by reason of a common ethnic or ethno-religious origin,” the ruling stated.
“Apart from that issue, we would have found that both of the respondents [Kruger and The Nine Network] engaged in racial vilification of the Australian Muslim community, being Muslims living in Australia.”
Who Is Sonia Kruger’s Husband?
Sonia Kruger is in a longterm relationship with Craig McPherson, who is a Channel 7 network executive. While the pair are not legally married, they began seeing each other after Kruger’s 2008 divorce from ex-husband James Davies.
After a long struggle to conceive, the couple welcomed their daughter, Maggie Kruger McPherson, in January 2015.
Currently, McPherson works as the Director of News and Public Affairs at Channel 7. On Seven’s website, it states that he “is responsible for Australia’s #1 line-up of news and public affairs content, including ‘7NEWS’, ‘Sunrise’, ‘The Morning Show’, ‘7NEWS Spotlight’, ‘The Latest’ and 7NEWS.com.au.”
