Kyle Sandilands Called Out For Blatant Homophobia Over Rainbow House
Image: mykey_o/Instagram; Kyle and Jackie O Show/Facebook
A gay man from Victoria’s Phillip Island has called out Kyle Sandilands for making homophobic comments on air about his rainbow house.
Hairdresser Mykey O’Halloran called out the notorious shock jock for comments he made on Wednesday morning, when a neighbour called in to The Kyle & Jackie O Show to talk about his colourful house.
“This is the ugliest looking joint you’ve ever seen,” Sandilands commented. “What’s the occupant like? Is he a how-you-going type of bloke or is he-?
“He does bat for the other team,” the neighbour said.
Sandilands also made insinuating comments about the “sticky” floor, and sweeping generalisations about gay men’s aesthetic choices.
“In all honesty, I thought you gays were pretty good with the overall design settings… who knows where a throw rug goes. I don’t know where it goes, you guys know.”
O’Halloran told Star Observer on Thursday that the comments made his jaw drop.
“Hearing the words like ugly and disgusting about something that I’ve put so much love into that it is a pure expression of who I am as well, and also the trauma associated with that,” he said.
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In 2021, O’Halloran received death threats from his neighbours for painting his house rainbow.
“It was really shocking and traumatising and a total invasion of my personal space,” O’Halloran told Star Observer at the time.
“Five men came onto my property around twenty to ten at night and were yelling homophobic slurs and telling me not to paint my house rainbow. One even threatened to come back and kill me if I did paint my house.”
After the story went viral, the Phillip Island community came together to help O’Halloran douse his house in rainbow paint.
Shortly afterwards, 24-year-old plumber Jai Ryan was found guilty of one count of unlawful assault and ordered to pay a $2,500 fine to Thorne Harbour Health.
O’Halloran and his parter were also subject to a shocking machete attack in November.
“That’s still very raw and recent. For that to come out on the radio in May- what next?” O’Halloran said. “I’d hope that if Kyle no knew the backstory of my house, that he would shut his mouth a bit more.”
Nicknamed the Rainbow Retreat, the house is now popular on AirBnB, with families coming to stay regularly.
We can’t “normalise” homophobic bullying
O’Halloran said that while he’s able to be himself vocally, it’s something that’s been hard fought for.
“Not everyone is as utterly confident to be themselves as I am. I obviously wear rainbow hair, the beard, like, there’s no second guessing. But there are people that are hiding or scared, or younger people as well.
“That kind of banter discourages people from being themselves,” he said. “We can’t normalise that.”
Although he’s had his odd moments of allyship, Sandilands has faced decades of bullying allegations, and been called out for blatant misogyny and homophobia in the past.
Despite this, he’s also currently part of a national anti-bigotry campaign, #StandUpToHate.
“With the current climate of the world, I don’t think we should be stereotyping anyone that’s gay, or calling them out for being gay on the radio, especially when we’re showing our true colours in pride,” O’Halloran said. “Have you not seen what’s happening in America?”
Complaints can be made to KIIS here.
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