O'Loughlin rapped for targetting Steve Irwin's daughter

The Australian media has rounded on comedian Fiona O'Loughlin after she made a joke about the 11-year-old daughter of national hero Steve Irwin.

O'Loughlin referred to Bindi as ‘a bit creepy’ and ‘a freak show’ during the pop quiz Spicks and Specks.

Bindi is a child celebrity, who has tried her hand at acting, singing, dancing, and rapping as well as fronting her own wildlife programme after her father was killed by a stingray in 2006.

But the 46-year-old comic made jokes about her relentless enthusiasm on the ABC show, hosted by Adam Hills, and made a gesture indicating that Bindi was crazy.

O'Loughlin she was rebuked by series regular Alan Brough, who told her on the show: ‘Now we’ve picked on a little girl Fiona, you spiteful, hateful, old mole with lice.’

The Sydney Morning Herald picked up on a handful of viewers who posted comments on the ABC internet forums, branding her spiteful, hateful and ‘unAustralian’ for the comments. The story even made the New York Post, which said she had ‘sunk to a new low’.

But O’Loughlin dismissed the row as a storm in a teacup, saying: ‘I don’t know what all the fuss is about. It was a throwaway line as a part of some banter on a comedy panel show.

‘I’m a comedian and comedians make fun of people we know. Bindi has been operating in the public domain for years now and material about her sometimes appears in my shows.’

Many comments websites such as YouTube also wondered what the fuss was about, claiming the media had blown the story out of proportion.

Here is the clip.

Published: 19 Mar 2010