Somebody finally told Todd McKenney to shut up.
But it was rather late in the piece. After commemorating Anzac Day by headbutting a fence in a Rushcutters Bay park in broad daylight with a pocketful of GHB, McKenney went public. Very, very public.
It seems to be written into all Channel Seven stablemates’ contracts that any time they’re set to spill their guts re illegal substances/s-x scandals/speeding fines, their television home gets exclusive rights to examining the entrails.
So, undeterred by the fact that he’d been charged for drug possession, Todd told Channel Seven News on Sunday night: “I can only assume that whoever planted ‘the G’ in my pocket also spiked my drink.”
Referring to the drug by its nickname is probably something that his management could have advised against.
Then this:
After one drink I felt very sick and then my face got hot and I had, like my ears got very, very hot and I just knew instantly that something wasn’t right…So as I kept walking I could just feel myself just having the most insane kind of collapses of mind and then I was panicking because it was a feeling I’ve just never felt before.
Although police allege McKenney produced a small vial of clear liquid and told them it was GHB, McKenney told Channel Seven he didn’t originally know that it was in his pocket. “I’ve never used it and I don’t use it. I’m completely against it.”
McKenney, who was disqualified for driving under the influence of alcohol earlier this month, is due to face court on May 16.
But that also didn’t stop him from confiding to the listeners of his MIX FM radio show. (LISTEN HERE).
You have to hand it to the man, he knows how to spin. And he’s also graduated from the Wayne Carey school of memory retention:
Kirsty from the police actually said I was the nicest celebrity she has ever dealt with – I remember that. My recollection of the night is vague. It was nice to have a strong ending and strong support from both of those teams [police & ambulance]
Channel Seven then rehashed his Seven News interview on Sunrise and The Morning Show. To finish up, the original Boy from Oz was also set to appear on Today Tonight.
But in between his morning media rounds and the impending 6.30pm prime time slot, Todd, or Todd’s lawyer to be precise, got nervous. So Todd broke a golden media rule. He stood TT up.
Riskier than providing the current affairs program with a series of soundbites to slice, dice and contort, is the decision not to give them any soundbites at all:
TT recycled the footage from Sunday night’s Channel Seven news interview. And, since they didn’t have Todd in front of them to ask him if he was lying, they asked a man and his lie detector:
JOHN RYAN: “From what I’ve seen with Todd’s interview, I can’t turn around and say he’s a liar, or he’s being honest. I can say there are indications there that some parts of what he had to say were deceptive and that makes me even more believe that he should be doing a person to person test.”
TT explained that McKenney had pulled out of the interview on legal advice, “his lawyer telling us, he’s said far too much already…”
And for his trouble? Said TT, “…that lawyer may also said have too much, Todd McKenney sacked him late today.”
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