Carlton investigates podcast clip about violence toward female fan creators

A video circulated quickly on social media on Wednesday night showing a group of men recording a podcast and laughing about one of them saying he would "beat the f***" out of a group of female content creators.

The creators are known as The Carlton Besties, a Blues fan page on Instagram and TikTok with more than 30,000 followers across platforms.

On a live-recorded episode, the Carlton fan podcast The Jumper Punch discussed a hypothetical charity boxing match for Blues content creators. In the clip, host Rocco Stagnitti said: "I'd punch the f*** out of The Besties."

The other three men appearing on the episode laughed, with one adding: "There you go, Respects Round mate right there, Respects Round mate."

The Respects Round is Carlton's initiative to promote gender equality and highlight the problem of violence against women.

Tori Saros, one of the four women behind The Carlton Besties, said she was surprised but not shocked by the comments. She said the remarks reflected how women were still viewed by some men in football spaces.

"When this came up, we thought, 'Enough is enough'," Saros told ABC Sport.

"It's disgusting but this is just one example of what we deal with as female creators and what we are sure others experience, too.

"It means we are just still not there. We've been doing this for four years now and although some progress has been made it feels like every time we finally take a step forward we take another two steps back."

Stagnitti has since apologised on The Jumper Punch's Instagram after first describing the clip during the live recording as "being taken out of context".

He told ABC Sport he felt sick about what he said. After reflecting on the remarks, he said he regretted them and knew they were wrong.

"I am against violence against women and know it is a big issue," Stagnitti said.

"I'm against violence against anyone to be honest."

On Instagram, Stagnitti said he did not make the comment with any intention of wanting to really punch anyone.

"Although my intentions were not malicious, I completely acknowledge that what I said promotes the wrong message and made many feeling uncomfortable," he said.

"This is a position I would never want to put anyone in, but more importantly women. For that, I am sorry and I apologise to anyone who was affected by my comments."

Keisha White, a prominent Fremantle supporter on X, told ABC Sport the incident left her feeling disgusted.

"The thing that angers me the most is how they acknowledged Carlton Respects right after they made an abhorrent comment about fellow female content creators," White said.

"It's all a joke to them. The fact that women are unable to simply exist in a space is a huge indictment of the state of the community at the moment unfortunately."

Carlton said it is investigating the incident and has spoken with the podcast hosts. The club said it was working through the next steps.

"The segment was abhorrent and in no way reflective of the values of the Carlton Football Club or the wider Carlton community, who have, and continue to be, incredibly supportive of the club's commitment to raising awareness around the prevention of violence," a Carlton Football Club statement said.

"Football should be a place for everyone to enjoy a sense of community and belonging.

"Violence against women is never acceptable, and content of this nature reinforces why education around respectful relationships remains so important, which the club remains committed to supporting."

Fans online have called for Carlton to take the matter seriously. Melbourne-based footy fan Jackson Wheatley told ABC Sport he hoped the club would ban the podcast hosts from attending future games.

"You can't seriously be holding games like Carlton Respects and then actively ignore this bullshit behaviour," he said.

Saros said the club had been supportive in getting The Besties involved, including through the Respects program, but she hoped the moment would resonate across the wider AFL community.

"This situation is just another example of the message still not being heard … women and girls just want to feel safe at the footy and enjoy the sport as much as the next person," Saros said.

She added that the support following the clip had been overwhelming.

"We are just glad our voices are being heard and that it's reaching the necessary parties for action to be taken."