New Sunrise presenter Mylee Hogan has disappeared from TV screens after an on-air viewer joked that Australian cricketer Glenn McGrath had died.
Hogan made the bizarre joke following a report on a TikTok trend in which children film their parents’ shocked reactions when they are mistakenly told a favorite celebrity has died.
The segment stunned her co-hosts, who attempted to move on to an interview with former fast bowler McGrath, but Hogan then blurted out, “Glenn McGrath has died!”
Now Hogan has disappeared from the anchor desk of the flagship show without any explanation after Chron Australia revealed viewers’ anger on Friday.
New Sunrise presenter Mylee Hogan has disappeared from TV screens after an on-air viewer joked that Australian cricketer Glenn McGrath had died
Hogan had only been welcomed to the show as a studio host on December 23 before her December 28 eruption.
But outraged Sunrise fans vowed to boycott Seven’s show if Hogan stayed, branding the comment insensitive after McGrath’s wife Jane died of breast cancer in 2008.
On Tuesday, Edwina Bartholomew had taken Hogan’s place as news presenter at the end of the pulpit, while Monique Wright took the seat next to Mark Beretta.
Chron Australia has reached out to Seven for comment.
Mylee Hogan (left) had only been welcomed to the show as a permanent studio host on December 23 before her outbreak on December 28 and disappeared on January 3
Shocked viewers slammed new Sunrise reporter Mylee Hogan (pictured) for joking that cricketer Glenn McGrath had died during a segment of a twisted TikTok fad
Co-host Mark Beretta had ended her account of the TikTok prank death videos early, branding it “the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“I dont like this at all. We shouldn’t do this. remove it Take it off now,’ he said.
Hogan said she found the cruel social media craze “really funny” and insisted it was “just a little bit of fun” when co-hosts Beretta and Edwina Bartholomew!
But when Beretta spoke to former Australian fast bowler McGrath about the Boxing Day Test, Hogan enraged fans with her twisted joke about the star’s death.
The comment, which was heard off-camera but clearly, sparked an angry reaction from Beretta and co-host Edwina Bartholomew.
Stand-in presenter Mark Beretta (right) ended the report early, while Edwina Bartholomew sternly apologized to viewers for Hogan’s unfunny outburst
“Not even… that’s not funny,” Bartholomew said while Hogan laughed. Beretta added: “I don’t understand that at all. It’s not funny like that. It’s crazy…’
The stern-faced Bartholomew immediately apologized to viewers, adding, “It’s not funny. Forgiveness.’
The show then went on to interview McGrath – whose wife Jane died of breast cancer in 2008 – about day three of the second Test against South Africa.
It prompted an angry reaction from some viewers, who vowed to boycott the show if Hogan stayed on screen.
“We won’t be seeing Sunrise again when this girl with black hair reads the news again,” a fan of the show posted on Facebook.
“Please remove this girl from Channel 7 – we get sick every time we see her face.
“She made a comment about the death of Glenn McGrath and laughed. Doesn’t she know that Glenn’s first wife Jane tragically died of breast cancer?
Hogan blurted out, “Glenn McGrath is dead,” just before the show switched to an interview with the Australian fast bowler, whose wife Jane died of breast cancer in 2008
“It doesn’t matter if she apologizes, she doesn’t think she did anything wrong. How immature and insensitive she is.”
Another viewer tweeted: “Horrible, horrible, tasteless ‘joke’ pranking people that someone died, especially when the next guest lost a wife. Please don’t air again.’
Hogan previously played clips from TikTok videos showing the dramatic reactions of parents who were given fake news about the deaths of stars like Zac Efron and Oprah Winfrey.
“Some people find the over-the-top reactions funny, others think it’s a cruel joke,” Hogan said.
She added: “Personally I find this really funny guys! Just some fun!’
But she was immediately taken down by the co-hosts at the Sunrise desk, who ordered the newscast stopped there.
“I think that shows the generation gap because Beretts doesn’t find it funny at all,” Bartholomew said.
Viewers were also outraged by the segment and took to social media to vent their anger.
“We thought it was gross,” Kelvin Mills posted on the show’s Facebook page.
“Look at the faces in her story when people found out about these fake deaths, they were distraught.
“Yes, these people were then told that it was fake news, but that wouldn’t easily take away the queasy feeling in their stomachs.
“She’s obviously too young to have had death around her.”
Viewers were also outraged by the segment and took to social media to vent their anger
One user added: “You’re not wrong – this is disgusting. I call that insulting.”
Another wrote: “I totally agree, that was horrible, Beretts was horrified too. She walked on and laughed. Back to everything off screen for them.’