Broadcaster Erin Molan opened up on-air today about being “blacklisted” by a very powerful friend – none other than the Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese.
Speaking on 2DAY FM’s Hughesy, Ed & Erin show today, Molan lamented that she used to have a “great relationship” with the PM, which appeared to end abruptly after she wrote a column criticising him back in March.
“He used to come on our show all the time before he became Prime Minister,” Molan’s co-host Dave Hughes recalled.
“We used to text, he once called me at home from his Prime Ministerial plane … we’d have a laugh, we’ve had this great relationship for so long,” Molan revealed.
Molan, the daughter of late Liberal party senator Jim Molan, wrote in her fortnightly column for The Daily Telegraph on March 2 that she was publicly “breaking up” with Labor, despite not having voted for the party.
“And we wonder why he’s never come on our show since,” said Hughes. “Why would he come on?”
Molan protested that she didn’t actually write the headline – which she said originally read ‘Trust me Albo – it’s over I’m breaking up with you!’ – and that the column itself was about the Labor government’s tax cuts.
“You try writing a political column every two weeks and finding something where you’re not offending people,” she said.
“It’s hard to come up with bloody ideas for it. You’re constantly scrounging. Half the time you’re making stuff up, because it’s tough to write a column.”
Molan said the story “gets worse”, as she let the dust settle for a month after the column, then reached out to the Prime Minister via text – only to receive no response.
“I sent him a video – nothing. A week after that, I sent him a shot of my computer screen where I’d written something complimentary [about him] – nothing.”
In weeks to come, she sent him more examples of her supportive commentary about him, including mentions on radio and in print. In her last communication, dated April 21, Molan says she wrote: “So, I feel like a stalker, but thought you might appreciate this …”.
Molan said she was frustrated that he never got back to her after previously appearing on the radio show many times.
“We invested so much in him when he was nothing, to ensure that we get access to him when he was something, and I’ve now completely screwed it. But surely, he couldn’t be that sensitive to a stupid article?”
“Albo, we made you, and we can break you,” Hughes joked.
Molan, Hughes and their co-host Ed Kavalee copped a backlash earlier this month over what some described as a “fawning” interview with Opposition leader Peter Dutton.
In it, the radio personalities declared they were “big fans” and offered to help “change people’s perception” of the Liberal leader.
“While our Prime Minister is gallivanting around the world, just hobnobbing with the hoi polloi as he is over there, and, he’s in England at the moment, isn’t he?” Hughes said, referring to Albanese attending King Charles’ coronation.
“The Opposition leader is back here, boots on the ground style,” he continued.