radio star erin molan was just talking 'gibberish' when she said 'hooka looka mooka hooka fooka' during an on-air debate about pacific islander football

Broadcaster Erin Molan was simply speaking 'gibberish' when she said 'hooka looka mooka hooka fooka' during an on-air discussion about Pacific Islander footballers' names.

Barrister Kieran Smark SC said his client's comments had been taken 'completely out of context' and distorted to make it seem she was mocking Islander names. 

Molan is suing Daily Mail Australia over its reporting of the reaction to her remarks made during a broadcast of the Continuous Call Team rugby league program on 2GB. 

The lawsuit alleges the publication defamed her in an article and two tweets published on June 5 and 6 last year by accusing her among other things of being a racist.

Molan is suing Daily Mail Australia over an article and two tweets on June 5 and 6, 2020 which accused her of mocking Pacific Islander names by uttering 'hooka looka mooka hooka fooka' on radio

 Molan is part of the Nine Network's rugby league coverage and co-hosts the 2Day FM Morning Crew with Dave Hughes and Ed Kavalee. She is pictured working for Nine

It also alleges the 38-year-old was portrayed as being so callous that having deliberately mocked the names of Pacific Islanders on air, she then refused to apologise.

Mr Smark told the Federal Court the Continuous Call Team was a live, light-hearted, irreverent, unscripted show.

It was was intended to be entertainment 'in some sense about sport' but which featured a panel of presenters who sometimes discussed completely unrelated matters. 

Mr Smark played a short segment to Justice Robert Bromwich selected 'pretty much at random' which included panellists talking about scented candles, putting hail in the freezer and Molan leaving her mobile phone on the roof of her car.

'They were in a sense silly shows,' Mr Smark said. 'So far as any target for the humour it was the participants themselves or their media colleagues.'

The first Daily Mail Australia article accused Molan of mocking Islander names by uttering 'hooka looka mooka hooka fooka' in a broadcast on May 30 last year.

Erin Molan allegedly mocked the names of Pacific Islander NRL players live on 2GB radio as part of The Continuous Call Team. She is pictured with the show's current host Mark Levy

Mr Smark said Molan had 'said some gibberish syllables' while referring to a 'funny story' that had previously been told on air. 

'What has happened was taken completely out of context and distorted by the Daily Mail and what that in turn did was set running a social media frenzy,' Mr Smark said.

Mr Smark said Molan had subsequently been the subject of criticism on social media platforms including from one user who called her a 'racist entitled mutt'.

'She was very upset by what was said about her,' Mr Smark said. 

Both Nine Entertainment, owner of 2GB, and Molan herself said her 'hooka looka' comment was referencing a story fellow broadcaster Darryl Brohman told on April 5.

Brohman had been discussing a debate between father and son commentators Ray and Chris Warren over how to pronounce the name of Haumole Olakau'atu, a Manly forward of Tongan decent.

'His name had about 30 letters in it and I had trouble pronouncing it so I asked Chris "How do you pronounce this bloke's name?"' Brohman said.

'He said, "Well dad and I have been discussing this today... and dad thought his name was Chuka-lala-lulu.

'And I said, 'Well, dad, I think it's Chuka-lala-lulu-lulu, and he says, "Chris, that's incorrect - it's Chukaka-lulalulalo".'

Molan alleges Daily Mail Australia additionally defamed her by claiming she refused to apologise for deliberately mocking Pacific Islander names with her 'hooka looka' comment

Mr Smark said Brohman had also told the story on October 5, 2019 and April 12 last year, it was well known to Continuous Call Team listeners and Molan's response to it was not part of an 'inside joke'.

Molan had apologised on 2GB in case anyone had been offended by her 'innocuous, funny, or not funny, attempt at funny' remark which she described as 'clumsy and inappropriate'.

'The last thing she was attempting to do was an attempt to mock,' Mr Smark said. 'That was not what she was about at all.'

The court heard Daily Mail Australia editor Barclay Crawford received an email from a staff member on June 5 with the subject line 'Pacific uni lecturer says Erin Molan racist'. 

The email included a social media post from an academic criticising Molan's 'hooka looka' broadcast which he forwarded to a journalist, writing: 'Let's rip into this sheila'.

Molan alleges Daily Mail Australia portrayed her as 'a racist' and an 'arrogant woman of white privilege' who refused to apologise for deliberately mocking Islander names.

The publication in its defence argued these imputations were substantially true, and that her conduct on air was 'objectively racist'.

NRL players with a Polynesian heritage represent a significant proportion of athletes in the league, the defence states.

Daily Mail Australia in its defence argues the Continuous Call Team program 'frequently engaged in discussions containing racist content'.

Both Nine Entertainment, owner of 2GB, and Molan herself said her 'hooka looka' comment was referencing a story fellow broadcaster Darryl Brohman told on air on April 5 last year

'On occasions this included the mocking of ethnic, particularly Pacific Islander and Maori names,' its defence statement reads.

Molan alleges Daily Mail Australia additionally defamed her by claiming she refused to apologise for deliberately mocking Pacific Islander names with her 'hooka looka' comment.

She claims the articles also portrayed her as 'so disrespectful and incompetent that she is unfit to be an NRL commentator'.

Molan said in a tweet the 'hooka looka' comment related to 'a story Darryl tells about chris warren and his dad from a dragons game last year'.

She alleges the article and tweets left her 'gravely injured in her character and in her personal and professional reputation'.

' has suffered hurt and embarrassment and has suffered and will continue to suffer loss and damage.'

Daily Mail Australia rejected this in its defence and 'denies is entitled to the relief claimed or at all'.

Molan is part of the Nine Network's rugby league coverage and co-hosts the 2Day FM Morning Crew with Dave Hughes and Ed Kavalee.

Both Nine Entertainment, owner of 2GB, and Molan herself said her 'hooka looka' comment was referencing a story fellow broadcaster Darryl Brohman told on air on April 5 last year. Molan is pictured with fellow Nine commentators Wally Lewis and Darren Lockyer