Latest news with #TheGregLarsenShow
Sky News AU
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Retired Special Forces Major Heston Russell responds to ABC star Greg Larsen's Anzac Day comments
Retired Special Forces Major Heston Russell has responded to ABC star Greg Larsen's shocking comments about Anzac Day during a podcast rant about the national day of remembrance. In the hour-long episode of The Greg Larsen Show, titled 'ANZAC DAY SPECIAL', Mr Larsen said he wanted to 'stoke some controversy' and 'up his listener count'. "Here's my hot take: I reckon I could beat all the Anzacs in a fight," he said. "There, I said it. I reckon they're not so tough." The self-described "leftie" quickly reversed his position, claiming he was joking about fighting the Anzacs but went onto to characterise the public holiday as based on a 'jingoistic' national myth. Mr Russell, a retired special forces major and combat veteran, characterised Mr Larsen's comments as 'clickbait to further his own career'. '(Greg's) opinion on Anzac Day does not deserve any more serious consideration or conversation given his own words opening to the podcast: 'Pissing off everyone - it's a good way to be a viral hit', in my opinion,' he told in a statement. 'The ANZACs and all of us who have served since, served to preserve rights including the freedom of speech for all Australians.' The national day of remembrance honours the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) landing at Gallipoli during World War I- a campaign in which approximately 8,709 Australians and 2,779 New Zealanders died. The retired soldier also warned the public not to get 'overly distracted' by critics of Anzac Day who have never served the country. 'Those of us who have served know there is a massive difference between actions and words, and which is actually required when faced with true combat,' he said. 'It's important not to get overly distracted by critics who have never served but instead look to profit off 'pissing off everyone'.' Later in the podcast episode, Mr Larsen continued his tirade against the national day of remembrance by claiming the Gallipoli soldiers 'died like dogs' for 'no good reason'. "All of them were tricked, all of them were lied to, all of them were led to their deaths by the dog c***s that run this dog c*** nation," he said. Mr Larsen further claimed that the Anzacs form the "myth" underpinning Australia's national identity. "Anzac Day is our myth," he said. "Anzac Day should not be a day where we fly a flag, Anzac Day should be a day where we burn a flag."
News.com.au
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
‘Wave a flag and fall in line': Former ABC comedian Greg Larsen on why he doesn't celebrate Anzac Day
Australian comedian and former ABC figure Greg Larsen has attracted serious criticism after dishing out comments about Anzac Day. In a podcast episode of The Greg Larsen Show uploaded a day before Anzac Day, Larsen was his usual irreverent self when he began with a comment designed to rile up patriots around Australia. 'Here's my hot take: I reckon I could beat all the Anzacs in a fight. There, I said it. I reckon they're not so tough,' he said. Larsen, who previously featured on ABC programs such as Tonightly and Spelling Bee, clarified he was joking about fighting Anzacs. A picture of Larsen edited in front of a communist flag posted to his official Instagram handle tells you just about everything you need to know about what's coming next. He has acknowledged he is a 'big leftie' and has used inflammatory topics like patriotism in his work as a standup comedian. He even acknowledged what he was about to say was to 'up his listener count'. But he shifted to a more serious tone when explaining why he refuses to commemorate Anzac Day. 'I believe, and I believe this firmly, that Anzac Day was invented as a jingoistic, nationalistic myth to get you to wave a flag and fall in line,' he said. 'I believe that the very existence of Anzac Day as a commemoration is a slap in the face to everyone who died at Gallipoli. And laying a wreath while saluting the flag is the same as pissing on the graves of the poor souls who died for no good reason.' Larsen also argued that the concept of a 'nation' is still a relatively new concept. 'We invented countries around 300 years ago. Australia's myth is the Anzacs — that's our myth, that's where we believe the country was founded, and it wasn't. 'We believe that Australia grew up that day and that we became a nation on that day, and I believe that is all total f**king horsesh*t.' Larsen further stated that the Anzacs form a certain 'myth' that plays a giant role in Australia's national identity. 'Anzac Day should not be a day where we fly a flag, Anzac Day should be a day where we burn a flag,' he said. His comments were labelled 'disgusting' by Sky News, while a Vietnam War veteran told the Daily Mail he was disappointed. 'Denigrate war, but don't denigrate the soldier,' Michael von Berg MC OAM said. 'We're under attack from all quarters from people who simply don't love our country, our flag, and our traditions, and it's very sad.' A spokesperson for the ABC told Sky News that Larsen 'isn't an ABC employee' and that his podcast 'isn't ABC content'. The narrative around Anzac Day remains a hot topic. A dawn service in Melbourne on Anzac Day saw neo-Nazis in the crowd boo during the Welcome to Country. The debate made its way to the campaign trail this week, where Opposition Leader Peter Dutton admitted he would rather not see the official acknowledgement at Anzac Day events, but would leave the decision to cull them up to each event organiser. Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has described the tradition as 'divisive'. 'There is no problem with acknowledging our history, but rolling out these performances before every sporting event or public gathering is definitely divisive,' she said. 'It's not welcoming, it's telling non-Indigenous Australians 'this isn't your country' and that's wrong. We are all Australians and we share this great land.' She said 'around the country' there were some people whose 'only role, their only source of income, is delivering Welcome to Country'. 'Everyone's getting sick of Welcome to Country,'' she said.
Sky News AU
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Sky News AU
ABC star Greg Larsen's disgraceful comments as he calls ANZAC Day 'a jingoistic, nationalistic myth to get you to wave a flag and fall in line'
Australian comedian and former ABC star Greg Larsen has launched into a shocking tirade against Anzac Day, declaring he refuses to commemorate the national day as he believes it is a "myth". In the hour-long episode of his podcast The Greg Larsen Show, titled 'ANZAC DAY SPECIAL', Larsen said he wanted to 'stoke some controversy' and 'up his listener count'. "Here's my hot take: I reckon I could beat all the Anzacs in a fight," he began. "There, I said it. I reckon they're not so tough." The self-described "leftie" quickly reversed his position, claiming he was joking about fighting the Anzacs. 'I don't hate the Anzacs, you know what, controversial for me to say… I like the Anzacs, I love the Anzacs," he said. However, he went on to explain why he refuses to commemorate the national day of remembrance, which honours the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) landing at Gallipoli during World War I- a campaign in which approximately 8,709 Australians and 2,779 New Zealanders died. "I believe, and I believe this firmly, that Anzac Day was invented as a jingoistic, nationalistic myth to get you to wave a flag and fall in line," Larsen said. "And I believe that the very existence of Anzac Day as a commemoration is a slap in the face to everyone who died at Gallipoli. "And laying a wreath while saluting the flag is the same as p***ing on the graves of the poor souls who died like dogs in the dirt for no good reason." Larsen argued that the concept of a nation-state was "actually pretty new… we invented countries around 300 years ago". He then launched into a nearly 30-minute tirade about nationalism and what he claimed was the true history of World War I, suggesting the Anzacs were "just killing people they'd never met because they were lied to." "All of them were tricked, all of them were lied to, all of them were led to their deaths by the dog c***s that run this dog c*** nation," he said. Larsen further claimed that the Anzacs form the "myth" underpinning Australia's national identity. "Anzac Day is our myth," he said. "Anzac Day should not be a day where we fly a flag, Anzac Day should be a day where we burn a flag." Larsen, once regarded as one of the ABC's most celebrated comedians, has also appeared on Channel Seven and starred in the BBC One drama The Tourist. During his time at the ABC, he featured as a comedian on Tonightly, appeared on Spelling Bee, and regularly served as a commentator across ABC radio and TV. has contacted the ABC and RSL Australia for further comment.
Daily Mail
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE ABC star Greg Larsen launches disgraceful attack on Anzac Day
An Aussie comedian and former ABC star has gone on a shocking rant about Anzac Day, claiming he refuses to commemorate the national day as he considers it a 'myth'. Greg Larsen made the comments in an episode of his podcast, The Greg Larsen Show, uploaded from a Sydney hotel room on Thursday. The Queensland man, who has made regular appearances on the ABC and Channel Seven and also starred in BBC One drama The Tourist, was in the Harbour City as he prepared to perform in the Sydney Comedy Festival. 'So Anzac Day is here again. I want to stoke some controversy,' said Mr Larsen in the episode. 'Here's my hot take: I reckon I could beat all the Anzacs in a fight. 'There, I said it. I reckon they're not so tough.' He clarified that he was joking that he wanted to fight the Anzacs. But Mr Larsen's tone then became serious as he explained why he refused to commemorate Anzac Day. 'I believe, and I believe this firmly, that Anzac day was invented as a jingoistic, nationalistic myth to get you to wave a flag and fall in line. 'And I believe that the very existence of Anzac Day as a commemoration is a slap in the face to everyone who died at Gallipoli. 'And laying a wreath while saluting the flag is the same as p***ing on the graves of the poor souls who died like dogs in the dirt for no good reason.' Mr Larsen's reasoning was that the concept of a nation state was 'actually pretty new... we invented countries around 300 years ago'. 'Australia's myth is the Anzacs - that's our myth, that's where we believe the country was founded, and it wasn't. 'We believe that Australia grew up that day and that we became a nation on that day, and I believe that is all total f***ing horses***. Vietnam veteran Michael von Berg MC OAM told Daily Mail Australia he was saddened by Mr Larsen's comments. 'Anzac Day for us is that one day where all services from the defence family come together to remember those friends we've lost, and I've lost a lot of them,' Mr von Berg said. 'Everybody's entitled to their opinion, but I would wager his (Mr Larsen's) is not shared by the majority of Australians. 'His suggestion that it's a "myth" - well you say that to the next of kin of all the service men that have been killed. It defies logic, basically. 'He's probably a comedian of no consequence and sometimes when you're not getting good reviews or ratings you come out with something quite extraordinary to get some notoriety.' Mr von Berg worried that Mr Larsen's comments were part of a 'left-wing trend of knocking anything of national importance'. 'You've got people out there not gifted with a lot of knowledge or history. We all know Gallipoli was a mistake but that's not the mistake of the soldiers who died there. Denigrate war, but don't denigrate the soldier. 'We're under attack from all quarters from people who simply don't love our country, our, flag, and our traditions, and it's very sad.' Mr von Berg was a platoon commander in Vietnam who was awarded a Military Cross for his actions in 1966. His citation states that he 'showed a complete disregard for his own safety' to lead his troops in successfully driving back an enemy attack after they were ambushed in a ravine, saving their lives.
