Magda Szubanski ‘will not apologise’ for ‘appalling’ Jenny Morrison tweet

Comedian Magda Szubanski has made it pretty clear in a series of angry tweets that she’s not apologising for comments she made at the weekend about Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his wife Jenny.

The Kath and Kim star found herself in hot water after tweeting, “Good morning to everyone else to whom this [photo of Scott and Jenny] feels creepy, chilling, terrifying, ominous, enraging, despairing and utterly, completely f**king depressing.”

The photo in question is of Scott writing a letter to Queen Elizabeth II after the death of Prince Philip last Friday. A conservatively-dressed Jenny is also in the picture, however she is standing several steps away, much to the confusion of many social media users.

It didn’t take long before people jumped on the bandwagon and started comparing the photo to a scene from The Handmaid’s Tale, with Magda taking the lead. In the dystopian television series, which screens on SBS, women are totally under the control of men.

“I genuinely thought this was a photoshopped Handmaid’s Tale meme,” Magda wrote on Twitter. “But no. It’s 21st century Aussie life.”

I genuinely thought this was a photoshopped Handmaid’s Tale meme. But no. It’s 21st century Aussie life. https://t.co/S5NckoHv1q

— Magda Szubanski AO (@MagdaSzubanski) April 11, 2021

However, Magda copped some pretty heavy criticism for the tweet, with Liberal MP Nicole Flint labelling the comedian’s comment “appalling”.

“Ms Szubanski’s completely disrespectful comments are yet another example of the double standards demonstrated towards women on the centre-right of politics,” she said, The Daily Telegraphs reports. “The sisterhood needs to stop picking and choosing which sisters to protect; all women deserve to be treated with respect.”

Magda has since responded, writing on Twitter, “Let me be clear … I’m not actually making a disparaging comment about Jenny. I just genuinely thought it was a meme!”

She went on to say that she won’t be forced into an apology, tweeting, “Simply stating facts. Nor will I be forced into an apology for … nothing. I see what the Christian Soldiers are doing here. They have drawn a ‘pink line’ & I’m the Big Game. Let the fat shaming begin!”

Magda then claimed that the PM “had weaponised Jenny”, tweeting, “He has confirmed she is basically a quasi policy maker. ‘I spoke to Jenny about this … I spoke to Jenny about that.’ She doesn’t deny this or ask it to stop. First Ladies have the right to opt in or out. Thérèse Rein opted in; Margie Abbott opted out.”

The PM has weaponised Jenny. He has confirmed she is basically a quasi policy maker.
“I spoke to Jenny about this…I spoke to Jenny about that”
She doesn’t deny this or ask it to stop
First Ladies have the right to opt in or out
Thérèse Rein opted in
Margie Abbott opted out

— Magda Szubanski AO (@MagdaSzubanski) April 13, 2021