Libbi Gorr on Elle McFeast, sexism and taking risks | Australian Story
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- Опубліковано 5 лис 2023
- CONTAINS COARSE LANGUAGE AND NUDITY
What ever happened to Elle McFeast?
The trailblazing comic character burst into football locker rooms and onto our TV screens in 1991 on the ABC’s Live and Sweaty program, shocking audiences with her mix of saucy humour and rollicking social satire.
The anarchic alter ego of entertainer Libbi Gorr, McFeast was born from a desire to push back on the Elle McPherson supermodel stereotype of what a woman should be.
As McFeast’s reputation grew, she became one of the first female tonight show hosts in the country.
But in 1998, Libbi Gorr’s career took a tumble when her live interview with self-confessed killer Mark ‘Chopper’ Read triggered a wave of outrage.
In a candid interview, Gorr talks about that notorious interview, the identity crisis that followed and why, at the age of 58, she’s embarking on a new adventure as morning host of a new digital radio station.
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I loved her night show, and the Chopper thing was insane! I remember it actually being a bit scary because he was being so unpredictable. She shouldn’t have been cancelled because of it. I’m glad she’s back
Me too
I really miss that craziness of the ABC in the 80s and 90s. I feel so lucky to have been around for it. Luv ya Libby ❤🎉
ABC used to have the best Australian Comedy.
Elle McFeast was, is & always will be a bloody legend! Great docco!
She’s a legend! Way beyond her time! I recall watching the show during growing up late teens🙏🏼💖ya Libbi!!!!
Such a confident and positive lady. She is quite the inspiration...Thank you Libbi...
Trip down memory lane. Welcome back Libbi.
I watched the show and remember thinking it was a mistake to give Copper a platform. I grew up around Chopper, he was 2 years older than me. He was a psycopath who enjoyed hurting people like Eric Simpson. an 11yo boy at my school who lost both legs when a 16yo Chopper and his mates thew him out of a moving train..
Having said that, Libby did not know him, she knew the articulate, jovial version, she did not deserve to be 'cancelled'.
“The ABC at that time, was very keen on having fresh new ideas go to air” can we fire Ita Buttrose who “wasn’t born yesterday” and hire Libby Gore or Andrew Denton in her place????
Stream more Australian Story episodes over on our playlist ---->> ua-cam.com/play/PLDTPrMoGHssDzqF7spxT_VH3Zd266tSEp.html
Lovely to see you again, Libbi.
One of my favourite character Elle McFeast. She was entertaining funny and she challenged in a positive way the norm of the day
I remember watching her with Andrew Denton..was such a good show.
I watched the Chopper interview back in the day. I thought it was brave and you handled it brilliantly. You were always an inspiration to me and my female friends. Especially those of us who are quiet and disempowered. I’m sorry you were treated so badly.
Love Libbi.
Wise and funny.
Wishing you all the best.
Queen Libbi all the way!!! ❤❤❤❤❤ so ahead of her time!!!! Elle should comeback!! We need zany at a time like this, especially how we encourage true authenticity nowadays 🙏🏽 Do you beau! ❤
The episode with chopper was one of the funniest & real ever shown on tv, so they got rid of her, of course. She’s brilliant & too honest for this idiotic society
I love Libbi Gorr and i loved her as Elle McFeast 💕 im so pleased to see her back on radio ❤❤ all the best to the wonderful Libbi Gorr ❤
Libbi I hope you see this as you set a wonderful role model for all 3 of my daughters.
It's so typical of the status quo to tear down people who don't follow their rules. Libby Gore you rule!
Great to see you back, Libbi! Always thought the Chopper fallout was a travesty and when I think of Australian iconic female comedy characters from that time, Elle McFeast is always there! ❤
that was lovely, thanks for being Libbi ;-)
As a young guy growing up through the 90’s she gave me a sense of normality,as in not EVERY guy liked the pencil thin blondes .. some of us LOVED 🥰 the curvy brunettes ,, she has appeal /humour /intelligence all wrapped up in a yummy package,
So her shows were & probably still are fantastic! She is down to earth and sincere
The only fault I can find is the footy club she follows 🙄 lol that aside she is a breath of fresh air.
Love her lots , 👍🏼
I loved you , you brought so much light and laughter to our lives❤❤❤❤❤❤
I’m mid-40s now. Elle was my guilty pleasure as a late teen. I didn’t always understand the themes at that age. I also didn’t really understand the ‘outrage’ about the chopper discussion. Suffice to say Red Dwarf and Elle were my staples in those times.
Elle McFeast was funny, used to watch it when I was a kid. I had no idea when or why she disappeared from telly but it’s just politics as usual it turns out
Oh Wow! I’ve always loved and adored Libbi Gorr, smart, funny and beautiful.
Libbi You are the BEST the ABC Today Needs You! ❤
Love Elle McFeast and love hearing her on the radio.
Good luck Libbi . I remember watching the show with Chopper with friends on that night we all thought it was gold
Love you Libbi. Comedy at its best in the 80s and 90s. I never forgot your video on BREASTS. Love to see Libbi and Julia interviewing each other. 🤩 Thank you Australian Story
Breath of fresh air
Growing up in Melbourne in the 80's & 90's was just such a special time for me, comedy & having fun was such a big part of life back then.
Coming from Sydney, I had no idea who Libby was but as soon as Elle McFeast came on TV. She might have just been my first celebrity crush 😍👌 Such a Comedic Genius. Love her to bits
🙏💙✌️💜🌟❤️
One of the great comediennes of my lifetime. Love you Libby Gorr - thanks for your self xoxo
Libbi loved you in live and sweaty ….never change or be sorry for who you are. Your a true gem
She is an incredible woman both Elle and Libby I was there right form the very start I remember that night how she controlled the show with a Chopper out of control she did an amazing job and should be proud of herself and never look down about that one show. She will always be beautiful and very smart and very quick on her feet. Oh yeah I'm not to keen on her being a Collingwood supporter
Great insight, glad you’re in a good place.
Well done Libby you are still a ledgen in my mind and heart ❤️
I wish I got to listen to Libbi more often. I miss hearing her on the weekends on the ABC. She's amazing!
Great to see her again
This popped up on my news feed, never watched this show in NZ but she seems like a really interesting and tenacious person. That letter she got was ridiculous couldn't imagine that anyone would think she was fat or unattractive shes stunner. Glad she was able to recover after such a dumb cancellation. It's funny how now days she would probably be cancelled for the spice girls feminism rather than having a killer on the show.
I loved seeing her on TV (I was living in Australia back then). I remember the episode where she zipped the girl into the suitcase and they went to the doctors. Think of how many women's lives, that one episode will have saved over the years, by raising the profile of Breast Cancer awareness, and early diagnosis etc.
Eric Bana said that the Chopper movie got pushed back a year or so due to the backlash over the McFeast interview.
This was the most of ABC tv I have ever watched thx to yt
Brilliant talent👌
I 100% guarantee that if a bloke had done the Chopper Read thing he would not have been cancelled. For example, think of the really tasteless interviews in the street Sam Newman did and kept his career going for years regardless. Successful strong women have always had a really hard time in Australia and in that era it was vicious😊. Good forbid women should have a brain, opinion and voice. Libby was truly amazing during the bushfire reporting. I hope her career will be stellar moving forward.
Look at the western Australian broadcast it’s hilarious and way crazier than her and chopper, he rips apart every gangster and says the funniest comments but it’s extremely professional and run so well.
Libbi your a legend ❤
Always liked her
WOW, I just realized that we bought a ford escort off Libby's dad, many years ago!!!!
About Time Elle we have all missed you. 😂💗
It's hard to stand out from the crowd if you join it. Libby stood out! Thank God for eccentric people!
What an amazing woman👏
nice piece of article
The show thought they could get cheap publicity by interviewing a psychopath. But from the outset, things went wrong. "Chopper," being drunk, revealed his darker side. From the very first moment, he invaded McFeast's space by imposing a tight hug. McFeast, tried a comedic routine of lifting her heels, but it made no difference -- Chopper had imposed his physical and psychological dominance.
Despite the accolades McFeast acquired for her past comedic or "outlandish" routines, this was not a skit and she was out of her depth and remained on the back foot. You cannot "charm" a psychopath; they will "charm" you -- or you will have to humor them at your peril (which is what seems to have been the case from the clips shown).
That is what people sensed -- a walk on the wild side that wasn't clever at all.
Brilliantly funny, Libby Gorr.
I listen to her on the ABC had no idea about Elle Mc Feast, good story😅.
So good to see you again Lisbeth..We know each other from time gone by..Great to see you back on again…Marcus😊
An amazing woman 🌻
It was only yesterday i was wondering where she was.
Well done Libbi
Give her an Audtralian of the Year award
You can take risks and be funny without entertaining somebody so awful and after all these years she still says it was a valid choice...how inconsiderate, when you're truly funny you don't have to resort to extremes like these.
Well done being you Libbi
A wonderful talent and very intelligent.
Interviewing a drunk Chopper wasn't 'taking a risk' it was downright stupid.
Interesting, when it's a hagiography, the YT comments section is open.The ABC would be terrified to have open comments on it's day to day programmes.
The ABC has lost it's way in the last number of years under government cuts and the sad leadership of Ita Buttrose. I didn't particularly LG at the time but good on her for keeping at what she believed in. Now is probably the right time for her to come back to the public but I think many of the current ABC would be so horrified with her ideas and ideals.
As an opportunity with this open comments. section I would like to pose a question regarding daytime programming. Where are there any permanent male voices in daytime ABC radio or TV?
Her show lasted longer than Uncle Doug's did !!!!!!😂😂😂
She added beetroot and changed her name to Mc Oz..
Legend,
Sounds like art wander radio
How dare Vanstone reach for the high ground when she protected Melbourne mafia after donations to the liberal party. Love Elle McFeast
At least you got a job at the abc radio out of it, in the wilderness years and like magic wow here you are , good for you gurl . big deal
Who is she
Old chop chop just got out of prison! Everyone knows he loves a beer! So who put a slab of VB in the green room while he was waiting to get on stage?
I sometimes think Elle was chopped because of someone else’s stupidity/carelessness. Unfortunately, she paid the price...
I thought she handled choppers behaviour very well!
That you be successful in your future endeavours Elle
Before Celest Barber, there was Elle McFeast 🔥🔥🔥 Hot Property and still Beautiful 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Coulda shoulda woulda , not that! it was tacky and horrific listening to how he kills people , sorry love I watched it at the time . Pain and ptsd is not a joke .
Hahahaha Wow bow
Imagine the tears if someone from the right had copped that much vitriol and been cancelled.
Proof that you can’t keep a good Elle down. That titty dance was hilarious!
Fun nice sweet be free
You forget there was a time when Australian entertainment had _real_ personalities and was actually funny and edgy.
She looks Arab (Lebanon or Syria).
The century changed comedy . Those who were funny before 2001 were erased by the comedy bureaucracy who set guidelines for humour. This removed one of the key aspects of comedy - the unexpected. New progressive comedy was entirely predictable, limited to preset topics and the source of tedious sermons expressing the most fashionable of opinions on the most fashionable of issues. Mother and Son 2023 versus Mother and Son 1984-94 shows just how much humour we have lost this century. The ABC has been at the forefront of dehumouring comedy to become a dreary recitation of political statements in support the ABC's political position. No place for an Elle McFeast today.
Elle was a champion she was such a breath of fresh air
Geez I miss the good old ABC and JJJ days.
Legend
What a breath of air she is
Libby was well ahead of her time. Sharp as a whip and a beautiful mind. I miss Elle Mc Feast.
Glad you have the attitude you do Libbi, because most of us think you're amazing!
The show thought they could get cheap publicity by interviewing a psychopath. But from the outset, things went wrong. "Chopper," being drunk, revealed his darker side. From the very first moment, he invaded McFeast's space by imposing a tight hug. McFeast, tried a comedic routine of lifting her heels, but it made no difference -- Chopper had imposed his physical and psychological dominance.
Despite the accolades McFeast acquired for her past comedic or "outlandish" routines, this was not a skit and she was out of her depth and remained on the back foot. You cannot "charm" a psychopath; they will "charm" you -- or you will have to humor them at your peril (which is what seems to have been the case from the clips shown).
That is what people sensed -- a walk on the wild side that wasn't clever at all.