Legendary singer Kamahl said he was “humiliated” by ABC’s Phillip Adams after the broadcaster claimed cricket icon Don Bradman treated him like “an honorary target”.
The ABC Late Night Live host created a storm of controversy by making the claim on social media.
In Thursday’s tweet, Adams compared the cricket icon’s 13-year friendship with the popular entertainer to his reluctance to meet Nelson Mandela.
‘Clearly, Kamahl, [Bradman] named you Honorary White. While one of the most prominent political figures of the 20th century was deemed unworthy of Bradman’s approval,” Adams said in a tweet Tuesday morning that later went viral.
Legendary singer Kamahl described a tweet from ABC’s Phillip Adams as “humiliating” amid calls to fire the station. In the photo, Kamahl with Australian actress Emma Roche.
ABC Late Night Live host Phillip Adams created a storm of controversy by claiming that cricket icon Don Bradman treated Kamahl as “an honorary target”.
Broadcaster Phillip Adams stirred up a firestorm of controversy with a demeaning tweet directed at the iconic artist Kamahl on Tuesday.
The comment was criticized on Twitter, with Aboriginal leader Warren Mundine calling Adams “a disgrace” and calling for his dismissal.
Kamahl, now 88, told Daily Mail Australia he was “humiliated” by the comment, labeling Adams “a bully”.
‘I think he wanted to put me down, how dare I be so successful? How can I be black and be successful?
“He was being flippant, but he’s a bully, ironically Adams has arguably the best command of the English language and he chooses to be mean. I think he was trying to be nasty.
Kamahl angrily responded to Adams on Twitter, calling the comment “disgusting.”
“To dare to suggest that Sir Donald Bradman invited me to his home in August 1988 as a ‘token target’ is repugnant at best.
‘You may be white, but oh, your soul is black!’
Kamahl said he was proud of his 13-year friendship with Bradman, which began when the singer mentioned the cricket icon’s name in a 1988 song “What Is Australia To Me?”
The couple exchanged nearly 80 letters, and Kamahl was a regular guest for lunch and dinner at Bradman’s home in Kensington Park, Adelaide.
Adams was criticized for his comment, with Mundine leading the charge, calling his comments “reprehensible”.
‘Phillip Adams, you have disgraced yourself. You should be fired,” Mundine tweeted.
He then added: ‘Or is white privilege going to intervene and Philip Adams get away with it?’
Kamahl said he was proud of his 13-year friendship with Bradman, which began when the singer mentioned the cricket icon’s name in a 1988 song “What Is Australia To Me?”
Aboriginal leader Warren Mundine (left) called Phillip Adams’ (right) comments about Kamahl ‘disgusting’
Human rights lawyer Sarah Joseph asked Adams to delete her tweet.
‘But. You should remove this imo. In fact, it’s fucking rude,” wrote human rights lawyer Sarah Joseph.
The tweet was not deleted.
‘What a horrible thing to say. Genuinely shocked by this,’ wrote public relations figure Gemma Tognini.
Adams responded to Ms Tognini: “That’s because you don’t understand the history of the term as it was used by the apartheid regime.”
‘Honorary White’ was a term used by the Apartheid regime of South Africa in the 1960s to grant some of the rights and privileges of whites to non-whites.
Kamahl has been in the headlines in the past year over claims that he endured racist treatment on the Hey Hey It’s Saturday show – one particularly awkward scene involved a stagehand throwing white powder in Kamahl’s face before a voice blared out of the screen will scream “you’re a real white man now”
In one segment, Kamahl’s face was covered in white chalk dust as he sang, in one of many controversial skit examples.
But Bradman had no official connection to the regime and was partly responsible for canceling Australia’s 1971 tour of South Africa, though he is said to have later regretted that decision.
Bradman never met Mandela, but the real reason is that he was sick when a meeting was possible.
However, the cricketing hero sent a gift and a letter to Mandela, calling him “a champion of humanity and a man of compassion for humanity.”
Although Kamahl’s friendship with Bradman didn’t begin until 1988, he told Daily Mail Australia that the pair met 30 years earlier.
“I first met Bradman in 1955,” he said.
‘I had a hat-trick at Kensington with my first three balls and finished 7-45 – I was a slow player.
“That night we went to the Kensington locker room and as I was changing my teammates said, ‘Do you have any idea who just shook your hand? It was Don Bradman.
Kamahl believes that Phillip Adams is “unlikable” and that he cannot accept his success. Kamahl with his ex-wife Sahodra, 82, photographed in 2009
Kamahl has been in the headlines in the past year over claims that he endured racist treatment on the show Hey Hey It’s Saturday.
He said some of the show’s jokes should never be repeated today.
The Malaysian-born Australian entertainer said he sometimes felt ‘humiliated’ on the beloved show.
The singer accepted that his profile had been helped by appearing on shows like Hey Hey, admitting that he needed the exposure to build his career and popularity, though he didn’t realize what a “minefield” it would be.
“There were a number of cases where I felt humiliated, but I didn’t want to raise any objections or protest about it.”
He explained that he faced him by smiling and “pretending everything was fine”, not wanting to ruin his own career.
A montage of some of the most controversial Hey Hey jokes involving Kamahl was shared on social media, drawing mostly supportive reactions to the singer.
One skit featured an attendant running up to Kamahl and covering his face in white powder, before an off-screen voice yelled, ‘You’re a real white man now, Kamahl, you know that?’
Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Phillip Adams for comment via an ABC representative.
ABC declined to comment when asked if Adams’ tweet breached its guidelines for personal use of social media by its staff.
