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The entertainment industry is not always all sunshine and roses, and more often than not, we find ourselves bearing witness to some kind of celebrity drama.
While some of our favourite celebrities seem to be able to avoid finding themselves in the hot seat, others seem to love it.
One such may be tv and radio personality Phat Joe.
Just a few months ago he came under fire for homophobic comments he made while on air and was subsequently suspended for a few weeks.
A few years earlier, according to Channel24, he had also left his previous job as a presenter on East Coast Radio after he made derogatory comments on people who suffer from Down Syndrome.
In his most recent spotlight stint, and what resulted in him trending on Twitter for the last couple hours, Phat Joe has not only openly displayed his sexist mind-set, he has also managed to upset thousands of loyal Anele Mdoda fans.
This after he made an unprovoked statement regarding the decision to have the presenter and fellow radio personality as part of the judging panel on Miss SA, something Anele has been a part of for the last four years.
During his morning show, Phat Joe reportedly remarked that "Anele Mdoda's appointment as a Miss SA 2019 judge is affirmative action, is just to balance the equation, she knows she doesn’t deserve the position, how is she gonna [sic] justify her judgement."
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His remark almost immediately resulted in social media backlash with both fans and Anele responding, clearly agitated, in a series of Tweets.Anele reminded Phat Joe, and all of us that she has been judging the even for the last four years and has even picked a Miss World. "My beauty has nothing to do with weather I can see beauty or not." That Anele had to explain herself and justify her talent is a clear indication that some men are just not ready to acknowledge the fact that women are capable and deserving of important roles in society.
This user even pointed out that Phat Joe never seems to go after his male-counterparts, to which Anele agreed.
He never ever goes for his peers. EVER !!! https://t.co/Jjbr3MuTIF
— Anele Mdoda (@Anele) August 7, 2019
While Anele's manager Owen S told us that she would like to refrain from speaking to the media about the incident, she has since taken to Twitter to explain that Phat Joe has called her to apologise. His comments are a harsh reminder of the way women are seen as undeserving or incompetent in SA’s entertainment industry.
Just took a call from Phat Joe. He apologized. I accept his apology. Naturally he thought he was joking and it didn’t land well on me. I appreciate the fact that he did not want to dictate how I reacted in my defense to what he believed was said in jest. We live. We err. We heal.
— Anele Mdoda (@Anele) August 7, 2019
According to a study published by The Conversation, these sexist, misogynistic comments and behaviour directed toward women have harsh effects on women’s mental and physical health.
The study found that, "among women, perceptions of gender discrimination are significantly associated with worse self-reported mental health".
Women who perceived sexual harassment also reported worse physical health.
Researchers of the study however, did not find a significant association between gender discrimination and sexual harassment with health outcomes among men, but reported that this may be a result of the small number of men reporting these forms of mistreatment.
They also examined the combined effects of reporting multiple forms of discrimination and harassment.
Here they found that respondents who perceived multiple forms of mistreatment reported significantly worse mental health than those who perceived no mistreatment, or just one form of mistreatment.
Among women, the combination of age and gender discrimination was particularly detrimental for mental health.
Women who reported experiencing both age and gender discrimination had an average of 9 days of poor mental health in the past 30 days.
Overall the researchers noted that their results suggest that sexism takes a toll on women’s health and well-being. The high frequency with which women experience sexism - at work and elsewhere - underscores the importance of viewing it not only as a social justice issue, but also a public health issue.
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