Hilary Barry was quick to bring up Paul Henry's controversial weekend interview this morning in a not-so-subtle dig at her former co-star. Source: TVNZ
Hilary Barry was quick to bring up Paul Henry's controversial weekend interview this morning in a not-so-subtle dig at her former co-star.
Henry sparked outrage in a Canvas feature story published on Saturday in which he ogled a woman seated next to her and commented on her "perfect titties".
His comments caused Lizzie Marvelly to cancel her appearance on Paul Henry this morning, while media commentator Brian Edwards said the interview should have been headed: "Suicide note from a deranged narcissist".
Paul Henry has sparked outrage after commenting on a woman's cleavage during an interview with Canvas magazine. Photo/Michael Craig
While she didn't mention him by name, Henry's former co-presenter Hilary Barry mentioned the interview during this morning's Breakfast broadcast when she thanked her male co-stars Jack Tame, Sam Wallace and Daniel Faitaua.
"Can I say how lovely it is for me to work with three such kind, caring men, so respectful of women," she said.
"Just spare a thought for other women who are turning up on other breakfast shows this morning who don't get to work with guys like you. Enough said."
In the interview, Henry commented on two women sitting next to him at inner city diner The Fed.
"The girl with the perfect titties," he said. "Am I right or am I right? No, I'm right - perfect titties. Talking to a girl with entirely adequate titties but she's decided to have lunch with someone with perfect titties."
He also said: "If you've got perfect titties, you know you've got perfect titties, because you see them all the time and you let them come out and play."
Barry presented the news alongside Henry on TV3's morning news show for a year before her shock departure in May after 23 years at the network.
Hilary Barry presents Breakfast alongside Brodie Kane, Jack Tame, Sam Wallace and Daniel Faitaua.
She and Tame have since replaced Rawdon Christie and Nadine Chalmers-Ross on Breakfast, in a move aimed at countering Henry's ratings success.
Henry mentioned the ratings war in his Canvas interview, claiming the changes were a direct result of his success.
"It's a direct result of me. What have they told you so far? And I'm talking about you, as a viewer. They have told you that they have been perfectly happy to produce shit for all this time because no one has put them under pressure to produce anything other than shit. And the reason we know that is the fact that they just offloaded the shit. Unceremoniously, they have offloaded the shit," he said.
"Not because they wanted to produce a really good product - because they have never wanted to do that, otherwise they would never have had shit in the first place - but because I came along. So, yay for me. I should be congratulated."
