Mitch Brown Has Received Death Threats After Calling Out AFL’s “Casual Homophobia”
Mitch Brown has revealed he has been inundated with death threats and abuse since he criticised Bailey Smith’s Mad Monday Instagram posts, which he described as “casual homophobia.”
In a new Instagram statement, the former AFL player explained that his original post “didn’t name any single person” but was simply pointing out that “any form of homophobia is loser behaviour.”
Brown added that the backlash has been overwhelming: “The level of vitriol we’ve seen this week has been sickening. It shows just how far we still have to go when it comes to inclusion and acceptance — in the AFL and beyond.”
He stressed that his intent was not to “cancel anyone” but to encourage accountability, saying, “We don’t want to cancel anyone — we want to meet people where they’re at, and have hard, honest and hopefully constructive conversations.”
Brown said he was “never personally offended,” but highlighted that his attempt to call out a harmful culture has led to “death threats … all because of a single Instagram story.”
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Comedian Josh Thomas comments on Mitch Brown’s posts
While the LGBTQIA+ has largely celebrated Brown commenting on casual homophobia in the AFL, comedian Josh Thomas responded to the fallout on Instagram saying he believed criticism of Smith had gone too far.
“Bringing people down is the least empowering way to find comfort in your queerness,” Thomas wrote.
“We’ve got to stop calling people that aren’t homophobic, homophobic … It widens the divide and alienates people. It gets reported so loudly that it makes it look like queer people are oversensitive or anti-fun.”
Thomas argued that Smith’s intent had been misrepresented, writing: “He never said losing the grand final makes you gay, that intention was insinuated by other people and then was ran with as raw fact. Being called a homophobe on the internet is very serious! It launches a swarm of people to attack. It’s brutal.”
He also posted a private message from Smith with the words “Love you”, to which Thomas responded “I love youuuuu”, indicating his personal support for the player.
Bailey Smith’s Mad Monday Instagram posts spark backlash
Smith’s Mad Monday celebrations — marking the end of Geelong’s AFL season — drew backlash after he posted a series of photos on Instagram.
One post in particular from Smith showed him and team captain, Patrick Dangerfield, at Geelong’s Mad Monday function, with Smith dressed as Brad Pitt from the film Legends of the Fall, and Dangerfield dressed as a cowboy from the TV show Yellowstone.
“Or brokeback mountain depends how ya look at it,” Smith captioned a photo of the pair. This was followed with a post of the pair recreating a pose from Brokeback Mountain alongside the caption “this is what losing a granny does to ya. Alright phone away now bye”.
In response, Brown posted an Instagram story of Brokeback Mountain lead Heath Ledger alongside the caption, “Just for the record, Heath Ledger’s way hotter”.
This was followed up with a seperate post saying, “In all seriousness though, guys do better. Last time I checked, losing a grand final doesn’t make you gay, but being homophobic definitely makes you a loser.”
While Smith has not made a public statement about the controversy, the posts were widely circulated and sparked heated discussion online about the ongoing problem of homophobic language in Australian sport.
Geelong Football Club apologises and bans Mad Monday events
Geelong Football Club released a statement in the days following the incident, apologising for the posts and pledging to ban Mad Monday celebrations in their current form going forward.
“Geelong Football Club sincerely apologises for the offence caused following our end of season gathering on Monday,” read a statement released on Wednesday. “Certain costumes and associated social media posts were inappropriate and a significant error of judgment, and do not reflect our Team of All commitment.”
“The Club has decided future post season events will not continue in this current form, and we will take this moment to further educate our people on expectations and Club and community standards.”
Neither the AFL nor Geelong has yet responded directly to Brown’s latest statement about the threats he has received.
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