Prominent sports journalist Paul Kent has said it’s his turn in the “rugby league soap opera” after he was charged with assaulting a woman at a home in Sydney’s inner west.
The senior Daily Telegraph writer and television host was charged on the weekend with two domestic violence-related offences after a 33-year-old woman alleged she had been choked.
NSW Police said the pair were known to each other and both were arrested before the woman was released without charge.
Kent, 53, pleaded not guilty and was given bail at Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday.
A third charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm was expected to be laid, police said.
Outside court, Kent told reporters he was “embarrassed” about the charges but was “looking forward to the full story coming out”.
“It’s just the rugby league soap opera, it’s the way it rolls,” he said.
“It’s my day in the storyline right now and that’s fine, people are entitled to their opinions.”
Kent said his employers, the Daily Telegraph and Fox Sports, “fully support him”.
“I don’t think my career is over,” he said.
The Fox presenter was absent from his seat on Fox Sports’ NRL 360 program on Monday night.
Host Braith Anasta said Gorden Tallis was replacing him this week after Kent was stood down.
Kent is set to reappear in court on June 28.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
Lifeline 13 11 14
