Yumi Stynes Readdresses Ben Roberts-Smith Controversy

Yumi Stynes has revisited controversial comments she made about Ben Roberts-Smith more than a decade ago that resulted in public uproar and her apologising to Australia's most decorated soldier. 

Roberts-Smith, 47, was arrested by Australian Federal Police a fortnight ago over allegations that he killed unarmed civilians while deployed in between 2009 and 2012. 

The Victoria Cross recipient is also accused of failing to stop members of his unit from killing three others.

Back in 2012, Yumi, 50, faced severe backlash after comments she made about Roberts-Smith and a photo of his muscly physique on the now-defunct  panel show The Circle. 

'Hello! Look at that physique!' she said, before making a wisecrack about muscular men like Roberts-Smith and intelligence.  

Her co-panellist, the late George Negus, added: 'I'm sure he's a really good guy, nothing about poor old Ben, but that sort of bloke, and what if they're not up to it in the sack?'

Yumi has said the pile-on that followed resulted basically ended her career in television. She publicly apologised on the show, saying she was merely commenting on how Roberts-Smith was a 'very handsome guy.

'I made a joke - because how could anyone possibly be so perfect? 

'What I didn't estimate was how much my joke was not appreciated. I sort of intimated that maybe he wasn't very smart, because how could you be that buff and spend that much time in the gym and be smart as well?

'I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to offend anybody and I have total respect for people that work in the defence forces, and I've never met Ben but I'm sure he's lovely and he does seem like a family man'.  

Recently, Yumi noted that friends had contacted her in the wake of Roberts-Smith's arrest, saying she was saying 'that kind of guy's not attractive to me. 

'So that's the sum total of my insights.

'So please don't attribute more wisdom to me than I had at the time, which was none whatsoever.' 

Yumi then detailed the fallout she suffered in the wake of the controversy, saying she was cancelled over her remarks. 

'The thing I want to point out is that I'm still allowed - from my position of ignorance and no psychic abilities - to criticise somebody,' she said.

'And the fact that I was cancelled, my livelihood was taken away and I was threatened to be killed, raped, maimed and my children hurt by thousands of Australian men – that's the thing you need to think about.

'Why are some people unable to be criticised? Why was that such a cancellable offence...?' 

'It wasn't just men but also women... wanting me to lose my job and my livelihood.'

She then seemingly compared herself with Grace Tame - the former Australian of the Year who posts - in making the point that high-profile women were often the subject of heavy criticism. 

'What happens if you criticise Zionism? Do you lose your Nike f***ing contract?' Yumi asked.

In 2023, Stynes - who was a Channel [V] host before appearing on Ten - said that her comments about Roberts-Smith cost her a career in television. 'Some of those real world consequences include the fact I'm not on television anymore,' she said.

That year, Yumi was asked by columnist Peter FitzSimons if she resented that 'you copped 95 per cent (of the fallout), while the attacks on Negus were more drive-by than sustained?'

She said: 'I think he lost a bit of work around it but what was directed to me was disproportionate: very gendered, very racist and an awful lot of wishing murder... The whole of my existence was questioned, whereas I think for George it was like "that probably wasn't the best thing you've ever said"'.  

Stynes is now a podcaster and author, fronting ABC Radio's podcast Ladies, We Need to Talk, and the SBS production SEEN. Roberts-Smith is on bail and his case returns to court at a later date.