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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has “unequivocally” apologized for comments he made about pop star Kylie Minogue in a podcast interview last week.
The leader appeared on Bush’s Deep podcast with comedian Nicky Osborne, who during a 20-minute interview asked Minogue, actress Nicole Kidman and entertainer Rhonda Burchmore whether he would “cross, marry or date”.
“Oh Kylie, obviously,” Albanese said after initially trying to avoid the question.
He immediately faced a wave of protests, with some members of parliament calling his speech “absolutely inappropriate” and others calling it “disrespectful to women… demeaning to the Prime Minister’s Office”.
Osborne, who is known for posting humorous sketches on YouTube, launched her podcast series earlier this year. Her podcast describes her as a “wildly irreverent journalist” who asks “questions no one else dares to ask.”
In a one-line statement on Monday morning, the Prime Minister said, “I apologize unequivocally for the comments made to me.”
Albanese made the comments during an interview at the Prime Minister’s official residence in Canberra over the weekend.
After Osborne first made the request, Albanese, Man He married his partner “I’m just married, only six months,” Jodie Hayden responded in early November.
But after being pushed by Osbourne, he added, “Oh Kylie, obviously.”
“You’re going to marry Kaylee, and shag her, and leave her?” Osborne said.
“All of the above,” Albanese said. “She’s very good.”
Community Strong MP Zally Steggall said the comments were completely inappropriate, adding: “He needs to learn to push back, lead by example and call it out as sexist.”
Shadow Communications Minister Sarah Henderson said in a post on X that the comments were “disrespectful to women, an embarrassment to Australians and a disgrace to the Prime Minister’s office”.
During Albanese’s visit to the Pacific, former prime minister Richard Marles told the ABC news channel that the government is “absolutely committed” to promoting women in society.
Marles said on the radio national breakfast program, “From time to time we do different interviews for the interview we are doing now, but the other point we will raise here is that the government led by the prime minister is considered to be the first in history to have an equal number of men and women in the cabinet.”
Albanese was asked about the worst gift he received on an overseas jaunt. A “strange” but ultimately “good” gift from Japanese Prime Minister Sanai Takaichi, he said, brought two watermelons, to which Osborne replied, “She came looking like Pamela Anderson.”
