Official complaints over Kerri-Anne's 'repulsive' comments to journalist on-air

Kerri-Anne Kennerley is no stranger to sparking a controversy or two with her comments on Studio 10, but the broadcast personality seems to have taken a stab at her own side with a comment directed at journalist Antoinette Lattouf yesterday morning.

Sources tell Yahoo Lifestyle the comments prompted immediate phone complaints from viewers at the time, and official complaints have since been made to the network.

Ten has been contacted for comment.

Antoinette appeared on the show on Friday as a guest reporter, sharing a segment on slang words when Kerri-Anne made the not-so-subtle dig.

“Did you forget your pants?” the 66-year-old asked Antoinette in a strange diversion from the conversation around emojis the two were initially having.

The comment took place while the reporter was presenting a segment on slang on the current affairs show when Kerri-Anne made the embarrassing comment.

Studio 10 hosts visibly horrified on air

Co-panellists were audible taken aback, and Antoinette looked visibly hurt for a moment before swiftly recovering with a light comment explaining her outfit.

“It’s a playsuit,” she told the veteran TV journalist.

Co-host Angela Bishop jumped into her rescue, complimenting the summery look.

“And she looks unbelievable,” the host quickly injected, but not before Kerri-Anne could follow up the comment with another shocker.

“And she’s going to be thirsty,” the 66-year-old said, in a nod to their earlier discussion of the meaning of the slang word.

‘Thirsty’ is often used to describe someone who is aroused or seeking sex, and considered by many to be an offensive descriptor to sling a fellow professional’s way on live TV.

Antoinette is a mum of two and prolific senior reporter for Ten, working across 10 Daily, Studio 10, and news.

Named in AFR’s 100 Women of Influence this year, Lattouf is also the co-founder of Media Diversity Australia.

While Joe Hildebrand looked uncomfortably gobsmacked, news presenter Natasha Belling took charge, redirecting the conversation.

Fury from peers

The moment did not go unnoticed however, sparking an angry response online from media personalities and commentators.

Clementine Ford weighed in on the controversy on Twitter, saying Antoinette deserves an apology.

Others were similarly horrified.

“Was KaK (Keri-Anne) actively trying to embarrass (Antoinette) by asking if she forgot her pants and calling her 'thirsty' ...or ?” wondered SBS journalist Jan Fran.

“Asking your colleague if she “forgot her pants” on live television is disgraceful,” Pedestrian journalist Alex Bruce Smith wrote.

Studio 10 audience unimpressed

It wasn’t just Antoinette’s peers weighing in however, viewers were also largely disgusted by the comment with complaints to the network being followed up with protest online.

“It was a really inappropriate unprofessional comment. That type of comment isn’t ok matter what gender or where it from,” one man wrote.

Others simply blasted it as ‘offensive’, ‘disgusting’ and ‘slut-shaming’.

Antoinette is no stranger to the Studio 10 couch and even made headlines earlier this year when a viewer spotted a lump on her neck while she was on air that turned into a vital diagnosis.

Kerri-Anne, of course, has been at the centre of a number of scandals this year, not least around ‘violent’ comments on climate change protestors that sparked official complaints in October.

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