NRL commentator Paul Kent has made an application to the Fair Work Commission, launching an unfair dismissal case against News Corp.
In July, Kent was sacked from his commentary jobs with both Fox Sports and News Corp after video of a street brawl was shared on social media. The NRL 360 co-host and Daily Telegraph columnist pleaded guilty to affray after footage showed him being thrown into a tree in Sydney’s Inner West.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the application has been filed under Section 365 of the Fair Work Act, with Kent taking on Nationwide News, a subsidiary of News Corp.
News Corp declined to comment.
The brawl is the latest in a string of controversies for Kent.
In December 2023, seven months on from his arrest and first standing down from his roles at Fox Sports and The Daily Telegraph, a Sydney court found Kent not guilty of allegations he assaulted his then-partner.
In May last year, police were called to Kent’s Lilyfield home, before he was taken to Surry Hills police station, where he was charged with common assault and choking a person without consent. Kent allegedly got into an argument with a 33-year-old woman before the police were called.
Police added a third charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in November.
Magistrate Daniel Rees found that the charges could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, concluding that Kent “was acting in reasonable self-defence of his property” after having his phone taken.
In 2022, Kent was dropped by Triple M football following the fallout from Anthony Maroon’s on-air walkout.
A week earlier, ahead of the Round 8 clash between the Dragons and Tigers, Maroon became increasingly frustrated over jokes made by co-hosts, Kent, James Hooper, and Gorden Tallis, at his expense about the Australian Taxation Office.
Maroon eventually walked out of the studio, mid-program, forcing Kent to anchor the rest of the show.
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Top image: Paul Kent