Australian supermodel Elle Macpherson has hung up on three Australian radio hosts mid-interview following a seemingly uncontroversial question.
The 60-year-old was speaking by phone with B105 hosts Stav Davidson, Matt Acton and Loren Barry on Tuesday morning when she abruptly ended the chat.
Macpherson is currently promoting her new book, discussing her cancer diagnosis, business ventures, and her time on the hit TV sitcom Friends.
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However, a question about Macpherson’s citizenship and voting prompted the model to hang up.
During the interview, it was noted that Macpherson now lived in the US.
Acton asked Macpherson if she was still an Australian citizen, and how she voted in elections from her home in Miami.
“I’m not getting drawn into politics on morning radio,” Macpherson responded.
“I’m not going to ask you who you’re voting for,” Acton said. “I’m just thinking about the logistics of how you’ve got to do that if you’re living in Miami.”
Macpherson then apologised and said she was getting another call for her next interview before ending the call.
“I don’t reckon she’s calling back,” Acton said.
Barry jokingly wondered whether Macpherson was “not voting and she doesn’t want to be fined”.
“We just got ghosted by Elle Macpherson,” Davidson said.
“I think that’s the highlight of my career.”
Macpherson has come under fire recently for claiming to have ignored medical advice after her cancer diagnosis and instead choosing a “holistic approach”.
In a recent interview with Women’s Weekly promoting her new book, she revealed she was diagnosed with breast cancer seven years ago and was now in remission.
She was widely criticised by cancer survivors and medical experts for the claims.
But Macpherson told the Brisbane radio show she was surprised by the negative reaction from people she said “hadn’t read the book”.
“The book, it’s not a dissertation on cancer at all,” she said.
“There’s one chapter where I describe how to make a decision when you’re gripped with fear … it isn’t really a whole textbook on cancer.”
Macpherson underwent a lumpectomy — a surgery to remove cancer from the breast — and was diagnosed with HER2 positive oestrogen receptive intraductal carcinoma.
Her doctor recommended she undergo a mastectomy with radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, plus reconstruction of her breast.
Macpherson sought advice from more than 30 doctors, eschewing their advice in favour of a “heart-led” approach.
“In the end she went to a beach in Miami, prayed and meditated, and made one of the biggest decisions of her life: Not to undergo chemotherapy,” the Australian Women’s Weekly reported.
Macpherson said on Tuesday she was glad for the discussion her claims had prompted.
“At the end of the day, it sparked a lot of healthy conversation
“Discussion is so valuable because it brings awareness and it brings growth.”
‘Dangerous and privileged’
Macpherson has been criticised by experts and cancer survivors.
Survivor Patrice Capogreco called out the model’s privilege, saying: “It’s infuriating. None of us have access to 32 doctors for advice.”
The Nightly columnist Kate Emery called Macpherson’s actions “dangerous and privileged”.
“I doubt Macpherson set out to spread medical misinformation,” she said.
“But the way she’s been speaking about her breast cancer battle is irresponsible at best.
“It feels relevant to note that Macpherson’s exes include Andrew Wakefield, the disgraced anti-vaxxer struck off the medical register for his role in a discredited 1998 study that falsely claimed a link between vaccines and autism.
“There should be a special place in hell reserved for the privileged who use their platform to endanger those less fortunate.”
Cancer researcher Dr David Robert Grimes described Macpherson’s decision as “incredibly irresponsible”.
“Holistic therapy is NOT valid treatment for breast cancer. So entitled that a multimillionaire with access to best healthcare advises women to ignore medical advice. Ample evidence this bulls*** kills people,” he said on X, formerly Twitter.
The Cancer Council said alternative therapies “are often promoted as cancer cures” but are “unproven” and not scientifically tested.
“They may cause harm or suffering to those who use them instead of conventional medical treatments. Cancer Council does not recommend the use of alternative therapies,” the council said on its website.
Cancer surgeon Chris Pyke, director of medical services at the Mater private hospitals in Brisbane, told the Guardian that a lumpectomy, which Macpherson underwent, can in some cases be an appropriate treatment for the condition.
He said HER2-positive oestrogen-receptive intraductal carcinoma can often be described as a type of non-invasive pre-cancer with the potential to become aggressive if left untreated.
“Intraductal means precancerous, so the cancer cells have formed but they are still housed inside the ducts in the breast,” Pyke said.
“Left to its own devices, a certain proportion of these cases will turn into invasive cancer during the next year. But the number is not high — about 5 per cent. It’s quite possible that just removing that lump all by itself could have been sufficient treatment.”
