Gay Comedian Josh Thomas Defends Bailey Smith After Mitch Brown’s Homophobic Claim
Comedian Josh Thomas has stepped into a heated social media debate surrounding a Geelong Cats player’s end-of-season post, urging critics to “leave Bailey alone” after the player was publicly labelled homophobic. The incident has sparked a wider conversation about humour, intent and impact.
It all started with a Mad Monday post.
The fallout began after Bailey Smith, a 24-year-old player for the Australian Football League (AFL) team the Geelong Cats, shared a photo from their end-of-season celebrations. Dressed as Brad Pitt’s character from the film Legends Of The Fall, Smith posed with a teammate, Patrick Dangerfield, and included two captions.
The first read, “This is what losing a granny does to ya,” a direct reference to the team’s grand final loss to Brisbane. The second added, “Or Brokeback Mountain, depends on how ya look at it.” The joke appeared to connect losing a major sporting event with the secret gay romance depicted in the celebrated film. That is, equating losing with being gay, or losing making someone gay.
Then came the ‘homophobic’ label.
The post quickly drew criticism from Mitch Brown, who came out earlier this year as the AFL’s first openly bisexual player. Brown described the picture as “homophobic” in a public post and urged Smith to “do better.”
His view was supported by Hayley Conway, the CEO of Pride Cup, an organisation that promotes inclusivity in sport. She told the ABC it was “disappointing to see people using the experiences of gay and bisexual men, which is what the film Brokeback Mountain is about, as a punchline.” Conway referred to the joke as “punching down.”
But Josh Thomas offered a different take…
Entering the discussion on Thursday, gay comedian Josh Thomas (Please Like Me) defended Smith. In a lengthy social media post, he claimed the intense furore was actually unhelpful to the queer community.
Thomas highlighted the severity of the online backlash, calling it “brutal.” His intervention shifts the focus, asking whether the public condemnation serves its intended purpose or simply creates more division. The incident now leaves a lingering question about where the line is drawn between a poorly judged joke and genuine homophobia, and who gets to decide.
