A public speaking event featuring controversial former AFL player Ben Cousins has been cancelled at the last minute following backlash from the Ballarat community in regional Victoria.
The event, titled 'Raw', was scheduled to be held at the George Hotel tonight, with Cousins promising to detail his time in jail, exile from the AFL community and his "journey to redemption".
Cousins received a 12-month prison sentence in 2017 for aggravated stalking and breaching a violence restraining order, with a magistrate saying he subjected his former partner and the mother of his children to "nine months of terror".
The George Hotel released a statement via social media this afternoon, a little over 3.5 hours before the show's scheduled start time, confirming the event was cancelled.
The cancellation followed an earlier post, which stated the venue had heard the "anger disappointment and hurt expressed" following the decision to host Cousins, and that it was sorry.
"The decision to host the event was made by the venue's management, and we accept responsibility for it," the statement said.
The statement said the hotel did not receive, hold, or process ticket-sale funds and had not generated any revenue from the event.
"We have since begun reviewing how prospective speakers, performers, booking agents, and other partners are assessed," the statement said.
Tickets to the event were priced at $49, and for $99, guests could have had their picture taken with Cousins.
Promotional posts for the event from Z Entertainment, which had 20 confirmed attendees, labelled Cousins an "icon".
"This is not a highlight reel. This is not a comeback story. It's brutal Honest. It's vulnerable. It's RAW," the promotional post states.
The show was part of a tour around Victoria, including Geelong, Seaford, and Sunbury.
Cousins and Z Entertainment have been contacted for comment.
Violence against women in Ballarat
Ballarat was rocked by domestic violence in 2024 after the high-profile deaths of three women in close succession.
The Victorian government committed $9.8 million over four years to fund a new initiative focusing on domestic violence prevention and early intervention.
The program — called Respect Ballarat — uses what organisers described as a "saturation model" that would deliver consistent messaging about respect and gender equality across schools, workplaces, sporting clubs and the wider community.
Crime statistics for the year ending December 2025 show there were 2,953 recorded family violence incidents in the Ballarat region, slightly up on 2,926 incidents the previous year.
There was also an increase in the number of women seeking help from violence support services.
'Relief' over cancellation
Ballarat Centre Against Sexual Assault manager Katrina Bevelander said she was relieved the event had been cancelled.
"To me it really flies in the face of some of the hard work the Ballarat community is doing.
"Having someone of his status coming into our community and profiting off essentially behaviours of perpetrating gender-based violence, just really left a bad taste in my mouth."
Ms Bevelander said the Ballarat community had rates of family violence higher than the state average and everyone knew someone impacted by it.
"To platform someone who's profiting off the back of behaviours that I don't believe they've taken full accountability for is a bit of the slap in the face of victim-survivors and the community as a whole," she said.
"We welcome men's voices in that space if they have truly taken accountability for their past behaviours.
"I question that in this instance, just purely off the profiting off the back of that."
Respect Victoria director of strategy, policy and impact Beth McCann said cancelling the event was "an important step towards creating a Ballarat where everyone is safe, respected and free from violence".
"The decision to cancel this event is a direct result of the Ballarat community saying 'enough is enough'," Ms McCann said.
"Choosing not to platform Cousins shows the community that a good footy career doesn't outweigh a history of gendered violence."
