Harun Nasrullah
Sky News Australia announced on September 29 that its Sunday night programme, Freya Fires Up, had been cancelled after six weeks on air, following a highly offensive diatribe against Islam by a far-right guest wearing a shirt covered in raw bacon rashers.
The show’s presenter, Freya Leach, will, however, remain as co-host of The Late Debate, which airs four nights a week across the Australian network.
The programme, which launched on August 17, aired for just six weeks before being pulled from the network’s schedule.
Leach, a former conservative political activist and law graduate, was known for her right-leaning commentary and frequent criticism of progressive politics.
The controversial broadcast, which occurred shortly before the cancellation, featured Leach introducing Ryan Williams, a Scottish national, as a “social media sensation.”
During the segment, Williams spent a minute calling Muslims terrorists and claimed he “wore” bacon to protect himself from alleged threats of beheading. Most of his remarks on live television were highly offensive; Williams has stated online that his intention was “to inflict maximum damage on Islam.”
Prior to appearing on the programme, Williams made his intentions clear, declaring he had “enough balls to fight Islam” while being fitted for a microphone. He also posted a video showing a friendly interaction with a technical studio assistant, which appeared to indicate that Sky News Australia was aware of his plans before the live interview.
A Sky spokesperson explained, “The employee in the video is a casual technical guest liaison who meets and mics up studio guests. He was not aware of the guest’s background and not involved in booking the guest or any editorial processes.”
Following an internal review, the programme’s producer, Ben Espiner, was dismissed. Sky News said it had tightened its editorial procedures and guest-vetting process to prevent similar incidents.
The network declined to comment on whether any other staff lost their jobs as a result of the incident
During the broadcast, Sky News Australia took immediate action. “We took immediate action during the live broadcast to cut off the guest, our host promptly apologised, and we ensured the content was not published or republished to any of our digital platforms,” a spokesperson said.
The network also confirmed it had launched an internal review into its editorial oversight and guest-booking procedures. Community groups and anti-racism advocates condemned the segment as Islamophobic and dangerous, accusing Sky News of platforming hate speech under the guise of debate. The Australian Muslim Advocacy Network (AMAN) called the broadcast “an appalling failure of editorial responsibility” and urged media regulators to investigate the incident.
The controversy follows a pattern for the Australian network. In 2018, Sky News Australia faced criticism after inviting Blair Cottrell, a far-right extremist who has expressed admiration for Hitler, for a studio interview to discuss immigration.
The network has also previously come under fire for giving airtime to controversial commentators such as Alan Jones and Andrew Bolt, who have faced accusations of promoting divisive rhetoric.
Following the broadcast, far-right figure Tommy Robinson posted a segment of the interview on X, describing Williams as a “hero.” Despite Sky’s efforts to suppress the footage, clips of the segment continue to circulate online, shared widely by far-right accounts.
Photo screengrab from the controversial episode of Freya Fires Up, in which Ryan Williams spent a minute branding Muslims as terrorists and claimed he “wore” bacon to protect himself from alleged threats of beheading.
