Outrage after TV presenter Mylee Hogan makes shocking joke about popular Aussie cricket legend 'dying'
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We all love to joke around with family and friends, but when it comes to talking about someone’s mortality, it may be best to step back and think about how insensitive it is before saying it out loud.
And unfortunately for TV presenters, mishaps like this could get recorded on camera and offend viewers.
For those of you who regularly watch the Channel Seven breakfast program Sunrise, you would have noticed that last week, the show welcomed a new presenter – Mylee Hogan – to the desk.
Things were looking up for Mylee, who had recently been promoted from being a reporter on the road to joining the team of presenters.
During her first few appearances on the program, she revealed how excited she was to be in the studio.
However, things quickly went south mid-way through Hogan’s first month in her new role when she made an ill-advised joke about the death of Australian cricketer, Glenn McGrath.
The incident occurred after Hogan made a report on a cruel social media trend on TikTok, in which kids prank their shocked parents by telling them that a favourite celebrity has died.
It was what happened moments later, however, that sent viewers into a fury.
As the show moved to an interview with former fast bowler Glenn McGrath, Hogan made an incredibly tasteless remark about the popular cricketer’s death.
'Glenn McGrath died!' she blurted out.
While the distasteful joke was made off-camera, it was still audible to the audience, prompting Hogan's co-hosts Mark Beretta and Edwina Bartholomew to react angrily to the insult.
Bartholomew said: 'Don’t even...that’s not funny.'
To which Beretta added: 'I don’t get that at all. It’s so not funny. It’s crazy...'
Bartholomew then apologised to the audience and said: 'It's not funny. Sorry.'
Unfortunately, the damage was done and the outraged fans of the show vowed to boycott it if Mylee Hogan continued to be part of it.
One viewer wrote in a post on Facebook: 'We will not be watching Sunrise any more if that girl with the black hair is reading the news again.'
'Please remove that girl from Channel 7 - we will feel sick every time we see her face.'
'She made a comment about Glenn McGrath dying and laughed. Doesn't she know that Glenn's first wife Jane died tragically from breast cancer?'
'It won't matter if she apologises, in her mind she has done nothing wrong. How immature and insensitive she is.'
Another fan said: 'Terrible, terrible, tasteless “joke”, pranking people that someone has died, especially when [the] next guest has lost a wife. Please don’t air [it] again.'
And despite appearing to defend the segment when she said she thought the TikTok trend was 'really funny' and 'just a bit of fun', the repercussions for Hogan could not have been worse.
On the same day Daily Mail Australia revealed the viewer's fury, Hogan had disappeared from the presenters’ desk of the flagship show without explanation.
In fact, in just 13 days after Sunrise welcomed Hogan to the new desk position, she was demoted back to being a reporter on the road when she returned to the show on January 5.
Her termination from the desk position was not acknowledged on air.
Seven also declined to comment on the matter.
This behaviour may be all too common amongst young people on social media, but here at the SDC we think these kinds of pranks are never okay.
These days, it pays to be more mindful of what comes out of our mouths, and it looks like Mylee learnt her lesson the hard way.
Have you ever been around somebody making an insensitive joke about a sensitive topic? What did you do?
And unfortunately for TV presenters, mishaps like this could get recorded on camera and offend viewers.
For those of you who regularly watch the Channel Seven breakfast program Sunrise, you would have noticed that last week, the show welcomed a new presenter – Mylee Hogan – to the desk.
Things were looking up for Mylee, who had recently been promoted from being a reporter on the road to joining the team of presenters.
During her first few appearances on the program, she revealed how excited she was to be in the studio.
However, things quickly went south mid-way through Hogan’s first month in her new role when she made an ill-advised joke about the death of Australian cricketer, Glenn McGrath.
Mylee Hogan has been removed from the breakfast show's studio desk following anger from viewers over a joke that Australian cricketer Glenn McGrath had passed away. Credit: LinkedIn.
The incident occurred after Hogan made a report on a cruel social media trend on TikTok, in which kids prank their shocked parents by telling them that a favourite celebrity has died.
It was what happened moments later, however, that sent viewers into a fury.
As the show moved to an interview with former fast bowler Glenn McGrath, Hogan made an incredibly tasteless remark about the popular cricketer’s death.
'Glenn McGrath died!' she blurted out.
While the distasteful joke was made off-camera, it was still audible to the audience, prompting Hogan's co-hosts Mark Beretta and Edwina Bartholomew to react angrily to the insult.
Bartholomew said: 'Don’t even...that’s not funny.'
To which Beretta added: 'I don’t get that at all. It’s so not funny. It’s crazy...'
Bartholomew then apologised to the audience and said: 'It's not funny. Sorry.'
Unfortunately, the damage was done and the outraged fans of the show vowed to boycott it if Mylee Hogan continued to be part of it.
One viewer wrote in a post on Facebook: 'We will not be watching Sunrise any more if that girl with the black hair is reading the news again.'

The distasteful joke prompted the fans of the cricket star to call out the show. Credit: DAN HIMBRECHTS/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock.
'Please remove that girl from Channel 7 - we will feel sick every time we see her face.'
'She made a comment about Glenn McGrath dying and laughed. Doesn't she know that Glenn's first wife Jane died tragically from breast cancer?'
'It won't matter if she apologises, in her mind she has done nothing wrong. How immature and insensitive she is.'
Another fan said: 'Terrible, terrible, tasteless “joke”, pranking people that someone has died, especially when [the] next guest has lost a wife. Please don’t air [it] again.'
And despite appearing to defend the segment when she said she thought the TikTok trend was 'really funny' and 'just a bit of fun', the repercussions for Hogan could not have been worse.
On the same day Daily Mail Australia revealed the viewer's fury, Hogan had disappeared from the presenters’ desk of the flagship show without explanation.
In fact, in just 13 days after Sunrise welcomed Hogan to the new desk position, she was demoted back to being a reporter on the road when she returned to the show on January 5.
Her termination from the desk position was not acknowledged on air.
Seven also declined to comment on the matter.
Key Takeaways
- Mylee Hogan was demoted from her role as a Sunrise presenter after making a joke about Glenn McGrath 'dying'.
- The joke sparked an angry reaction from viewers, who vowed to boycott the show if Hogan stayed.
- Hogan has now been demoted back to being a reporter on the road and did not receive an explanation for her demotion.
- The joke was widely condemned as being insensitive, given McGrath's wife Jane died of breast cancer in 2008.
This behaviour may be all too common amongst young people on social media, but here at the SDC we think these kinds of pranks are never okay.
These days, it pays to be more mindful of what comes out of our mouths, and it looks like Mylee learnt her lesson the hard way.
Have you ever been around somebody making an insensitive joke about a sensitive topic? What did you do?