- NRL pundit pleaded guilty over fight in April
- Veteran was sacked over incident on May 30
Paul Kent is making a comeback to sport commentary on an Aussie cricket legend’s podcast after being sacked from his high-profile roles with Foxtel and News Corp due to his infamous drunken street brawl.
The former NRL 360 star was axed on May 30 this year while he was facing court on charges of affray following a street fight outside a pub in Sydney‘s inner west that saw him suffer injuries when he was thrown into a tree.
The veteran rugby league journalist was also stood down by News Corp for seven months in 2023 while he faced domestic violence charges, which were later dismissed.
Now the 55-year-old has cropped up as an upcoming guest on cricket great Mike Whitney’s How’s That? podcast, which has also featured big names like cult hero fast bowler Lenny Pascoe, legendary batter Doug Walters, footy great Mark Carroll and musician Angry Anderson.
It’s believed the episode featuring Kent will be available from February, and it will feature a ‘chat about his story and what he’s been up to since #NRL360’ complete with some ‘interesting stories’, according to the podcast’s TikTok.
The appearance on Whitney’s show is Kent’s first appearance in the media since his career went off the rails this year.
He reportedly settled his unfair dismissal case against News Corp in September after pleading guilty to the charge of affray and being issued a good behaviour bond.
Kent labelled his sacking a ‘sham’ when he filed the case and said he believed he was not given a fair chance to relate his version of events.
The documents filed by his legal team also reportedly stated that Kent was unhappy with not being afforded the presumption of innocence during the domestic violence court hearings and lost seven months of income.
According to his claim, Kent had also privately been dealing with a diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome for almost a decade, and his legal team said the condition is a disability under the law.
The former Parramatta Eels player said he revealed his Asperger’s diagnosis to his former employer about nine years ago.
News Corp disputed that Kent informed the company of his diagnosis in or around 2015 and denied it discriminated against him on the basis of that disability.
In deciding not to record a conviction for the charge of affray resulting from the street brawl, magistrate Jennifer Price took into account that Kent was suffering from major depression and alcohol use disorder at the time of the incident.
In the course of the case, Kent said he advised News he was unfit for work and receiving mental health treatment when the company asked him on May 23 to show cause why his employment should not be terminated.
According to Kent, his sacking can be traced back to when he was wrongly accused of attacking his former partner Lucy Kennedy at his Lilyfield home on May 12 last year.
Kent pleaded not guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm, common assault and choking a person without consent and all charges were dismissed last December at Downing Centre Local Court.
He also briefly worked as a part-time limousine driver for a funeral business in Sydney’s inner west when he was stood down over the domestic violence charges.
Kent was seen striking his head on a gutter outside Rozelle’s Three Weeds Hotel in a viral video showing the street fight on April 27.
His lawyer George Elias later said his client had been hospitalised with as many as five broken ribs and a suspected collapsed lung after the altercation.
