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Eddie McGuire under fire for joking about drowning a woman

Eddie McGuire is no stranger to controversy, but making jokes about drowning a woman is bad even for him.

The Collingwood President made the comments about sports reporter Caroline Wilson on Triple M last week after he’d agreed to plunge into a pool of iced water for a charity fund-raiser.

“I reckon we should start a campaign or a one-person slide next year,” McGuire said.

“Caroline Wilson, I’ll put in the 10 grand straight away, make it 20, and if she stays under, 50.”

Walkley award-winning journalist Caroline Wilson
Walkley award-winning journalist Caroline Wilson

While the inappropriate comments went largely unnoticed, freelance sports writer Erin Riley was so outraged she wrote a scathing piece condemning McGuire for making light of violence against women.

“These are some of the most high-profile men in football joking about hurting one of football’s most prominent women,” Riley wrote.

“So much of our discussions about violence against women acknowledge the importance of language and of attitudes in shaping the way men think about women.”

And Riley wasn’t alone, with many others taking to social media to vent their outrage against the media personality.

Even though McGuire was trying to make a joke, it certainly was uncalled for and ill-timed, as it came just days before an AFL match in support of White Ribbon.