2022 The Top Talent Report lists the most controversial talent in Australia

Earlier this month, the 2022 The Top Talent Report revealed that Hamish Blake had been voted Australia’s No. 1 broadcast personality as voted by consumers. Following on from the top talent lists, the Top 10 Most Controversial Talent list has now been released.

The Top 10 Most Controversial Talent in Australia are:

1. Kyle Sandilands - 81%
2. Nick Kyrgios - 78%
3. Alan Jones - 78%
4. Andrew Bolt - 76%
5. John Laws - 76%
6. Anthony Mundine - 75%
7. Steve Price - 70%
8. Peta Credlin - 70%
9. Paul Murray - 68%
10. Brendan Fevola - 68%

The way this is determined is that of those polled and that recognise Kyle Sandilands, 81% said he was controversial – the highest of any personality.

Lewers founder and CEO Lisa Lewers: "A controversial personality can be both liked and disliked - likeability is not the measure of controversy. Rather, 'controversial' was determined based on the words used to describe and the gut based word associations applied to a personality."

Talent Corp managing director, Mark Noakes: "Achieving the right balance between audience size and controversy can be challenging for marketers. I’ve witnessed this first hand with the Alan Jones controversy and social media backlash. Some brands tried to continue advertising amongst the consumer backlash only to pull out at a later date after they realised consumers' responses. That’s why the Australian Talent Index predictive consumer response has never been more important for brands when partnering with talent and celebrities."

The Top Talent Report was commissioned by media and marketing agency Talent Corp in conjunction with Lewers Research and details the latest findings of the Australian Talent Index.

The Index, a first of its kind in Australia, is a talent measurement system that captures consumers’ awareness of, and attitudes towards, a range of Australian talent, including celebrities, actors, broadcasters, sports stars, and politicians.