Ray Hadley calls for Sonny Bill Williams to be sacked over public Hamas support
2GB radio presenter Ray Hadley has called for Sonny Bill Williams to be sacked from Channel 9 over his very public support of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The stinging attack on the cross-code football great turned boxer occurred when the radio star was being interviewed by Ben Fordham this morning.
Williams is currently in France working on Channel 9’s coverage of the Rugby World Cup.
Nine is the owner of 2GB.
Williams sparked outrage on Sunday after sharing a social media post from the controversial American commentator Khaled Beydoun.
“So, Ukrainian civilians defending their families are ‘freedom fighters’ … But Palestinians in Gaza doing the EXACT same thing are ‘terrorists?” Williams reposted with a “100 per cent” emoji.
Williams’ message also included a praying emoji.
Hamas on Saturday launched an extensive attack against Israel, coinciding with the Jewish holiday Simchat Torah.
It launched thousands of rockets from Gaza, while militants infiltrated Israeli communities, killing residents and abducting hostages.
In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared his nation was “at war” with Hamas.
The combined death toll in Israel and Gaza has passed 1100, with thousands more wounded.
In the rant this morning Hadley described Williams as a “lunatic” and said if “brains were dynamite, Sonny Bill Williams wouldn’t blow his ears off”.
“It’s embarrassing for me and other people connected with this radio and TV network that he’s employed by - and I think that the CEO of the company should review his employment prospects,” he continued.
“It’s a disgrace.”
Hadley ended by saying “words escape me”.
The radio star wasn’t the only one incensed by Williams’ post.
While the post has more than 12,000 likes and has been viewed more than 730,000 times there has been an angry response from some Twitter users asking for the post to be removed from Twitter, now known as X.
One fan posted that Williams should have “sat on the bench” rather than share his opinions on the conflict.
“Shame on you”, another wrote.
One fan shared Hadley’s sentiment urging Channel 9 and Stan Sport to sack the former sports star.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about as usual bro. Do some fact checking, it’s not that difficult,” the person wrote.
Williams in 2021 called for Australia to boycott the Winter Olympics in China over the appalling treatment of the Uighur ethnic minority in the north west of the country.
The region’s Muslim community has been the target of systematic human rights abuses by the Chinese Communist Party with thousands left in modern-day concentration camps.
He first voiced his outrage at the actions of the Chinese government in 2019 when he shared an image illustrating oppression against the community.
The superstar converted to Islam in his twenties, while playing for French club Toulon 10 years ago.
“Look, I chased girls. I drank alcohol, spent lavishly and thought I was someone that I wasn’t. I lived that life and, in my experience, what did it give me? Hollowness and emptiness in my heart,” Williams told the BBC.
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“It took a few years for the process, but I found Allah, I found Islam and it really allowed me to turn the wildness in myself into positivity.
“With the way that I have driven as a sportsman to succeed, those two together have allowed me to reach where I am today.”
carla.mascarenhas@news.com.au
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