Hunt breaks silence on drugs controversy
Karmichael Hunt has broken his silence over the cocaine scandal embroiling himself and former teammates in an exclusive interview with 7 News.
In his only television interview, Hunt and his wife Emma downplayed suggestions the multi-code footballer had been disloyal to his friends by revealing their activities to police.
“I guess the whole ratting on my mates notion that’s out there [hurt the most] … dobbing in my mates to save myself … was pretty disappointing,” he said.
“You know, I was compelled to talk… I was compelled to turn up at CCC and obviously if I didn’t the repercussions were pretty serious.”
Hunt, who was engulfed in scandal earlier this year after being charged with cocaine possession, said he felt sick at the events, which came just weeks before the birth of his third child.
The rugby league, Australian rules and now rugby union star revealed to investigators that a dozen of his Gold Coast Suns teammates had been involved in an end of season bender which sparked the ongoing investigations.
Now he says he has been in touch with his friends from the Suns who he said were coping well with the ongoing drama.
“I’ve spoken to them and they’re doing well … obviously their concern was for me,” Hunt said.
“I’ve been reading stories about a drug culture here and there … that’s not the truth.
“We’re not shying away from it … I’ve made mistakes and I’ve put my hand up and owned it.”
Hunt has now admitted he was naïve in becoming involved with drugs, despite his wife’s efforts to keep him on the right path.
“My mind convinced me that I deserved every reward I wanted to give myself and she tried many times to get me on the straight and narrows and say look it’s not worth it,” he said.
“I was ignorant to the fact that I could get in trouble.”
But if Hunt was ignorant to the consequences, Emma was not.
“I wasn’t overly surprised this was happening to us,” she said of the ongoing scandal.
“It was almost a sense of relief for me that it was like OK, we’re here.”
Despite his first season with the Queensland Reds now being tarnished by the explosive charges at the beginning of the year, the team is sticking by the code-jumping star.
And Hunt says he intends to repay them for their confidence.
“I’m happy to wear all the scars that I’ve earned from footy … and I’ll be happy to wear the scars I’ve earnt from life,” he said.
