Slur incites fight between Fagan and Jackson

They are paid tens of thousands of dollars a year to preach their insights on politics and culture across the airwaves each day, so you'd be forgiven for thinking talkback radio broadcasters rise above taunts and insecurities that us hoi polloi deal with on a daily basis. But you'd be wrong.

What started out as an on-air jostle between RadioLive announcers Andrew Fagan and Willie Jackson on Wednesday ended with a shameful stand-off in the boardroom later that day in front of shocked colleagues and bosses. It all began when a caller named Karen phoned in to Jackson's show on Wednesday to complain about Fagan.

Jackson joked Fagan was an old muso and it was probably as a result of too much indulgence over the years. But he didn't help matters by bringing up Fagan's relationship with his wife and co-star Karyn Hay: "Well, she carries him, there's no doubt about that," Jackson said.

Willie, Willie, Willie, don't go dissing the bond between a working couple. Fagan, obviously hearing the words said about him on air, phoned in to the live show to take issue, and, after some heated discussion about New Zealand's race relations, spat: "In terms of Karyn Hay carrying me mate, I'll rip your f***ing heart out!" Jackson retorted: "Hey, your missus carries you and you're lucky you've got a job here [at RadioLive]!"

The whole country could hear the carry on! If Jackson thought that was the end of the matter, he was wrong. Come 5pm, all the RadioLive announcers convened in the boardroom on level two for an important strategy meeting with network bosses. Fellow broadcasters Marcus Lush, Michael Laws, Maggie Barry, Martin Devlin, Hay and John Tamihere were there too.

Fagan was ready and waiting and came at Jackson brandishing a plastic knife. The accoutrement may have been comic, but his attitude, I'm told, was not. Mitch Harris, RadioLive's director of programming, explained it like this: "All the hosts got together for presentations. It was quite a big deal... getting everyone together... flying Laws up [from Wanganui]. Fagan dressed up in his motorcycle gear, he looked like Spiderman, he jumped on the boardroom table in one big leap and he pulled out a plastic knife like you'd get from the joke shop, you know the one that recedes in and out. He leaped off the table towards Willie and shoved the knife at Willie, shaking him, saying 'I'll get you for what you said about me on the air'.

It was all a bit of a joke and everyone laughed, but then he carried the joke on a bit too long." Jackson wasn't laughing. He told me: "He's just lucky I didn't knock his block off! It was a joke to begin with but then he got in my face and just kept going. I grabbed him and pushed him back. J.T. stopped me. I was quite angry. I didn't find it funny at all. He came at me saying 'you said this and you said that', and I said 'yeah, yeah, yeah'. But I wanted to knock his head off!" Fagan said later, laughing: "Nobody told me Willie's an ex-bouncer. He dispatched me pretty quickly!"

Harris says the network's policy is "we don't get upset about what people say about us on air". All good in theory, but clearly Fagan was peeved. Fagan admits he "probably went over the top a bit," but he felt his honour had been damaged. "He's said it on a few occasions and I'd had enough. I felt he was undermining my integrity." Colleague Maggie Barry was apparently visibly shocked. That sort of bar-room brawl behaviour is far removed from the lofty conduct at National Radio, where she's previously worked. "Yeah, Maggie was upset," Jackson confirmed. "But I didn't mean for it to go that far. I suggested we take it outside, and Fagan was keen." Luckily someone with sense intervened.

Tamihere separated the two men and the aptly named Michael Laws stepped in to the middle of the situation to play mediator. Fagan apologised to Jackson and the two men made up. "He said sorry," Jackson said, "Look, I hold no grudges, you know, I like Andrew." After the fracas, the stars and the network executives went for a planned dinner to Toto's restaurant, only Fagan was a no-show. "I probably felt I had overstayed my welcome," Fagan told me. "I have to remember not to take my toy weapons to staff meetings." "To be honest, I didn't feel like going either," Jackson said, "but Laws wanted to introduce his girlfriend to me and J.T."

Click here to see the celebrities having fun at SkyCity poker night.

Rachel Glucina

Pictured above: Willie Jackson. Photo / Greg Bowker