Taylan May has fired back at media personality Paul Kent after the NRL360 co-host previously lashed out at the Penrith Panthers star when he was found guilty of assault.
A video of Kent allegedly fighting with a Sydney man went viral over the weekend.
The video shows an argument between Kent and another man outside the Three Weeds hotel in Rozelle, which allegedly escalated into a physical fight.
In the video, Kent is heard insulting the other man ‘doghead’ before the alleged fight breaks out and moves across the street from the hotel.
The footage shows Kent, 54, being thrown into a tree and falling head-first into the gutter.
A 35-year-old man has been charged with affray over the alleged clash.
The viral video led May to return fire after previously being targeted by Kent.
While the Penrith star’s original Instagram story about Kent had expired or been deleted by Monday morning, several Panthers fans shared screenshots.
It included a still of Kent landing on his head after being thrown into a tree, with the captions: ‘Tree of Peace’ with a peace emoji and a laughing emoji and ‘Sunday Funday’.
In 2022, Kent criticised May as he condemned the NRL’s decision to let the Panthers player compete in the finals as a case of ‘poor management’.
May, who was 21 at the time, was handed a two-game suspension after he was found guilty of assault occasioning bodily harm in a verdict handed down in August 2022.
The assault occurred at a Queensland bar during celebrations for the team’s 2021 premiership victory.
A conviction was not recorded against May, who said he was defending teammate Nathan Cleary from a fan who was recording the Penrith stars.
After the verdict in Maroochydore Magistrates Court, the NRL hit May with a $3750 fine and required that he immediately start counselling and education.
The NRL decided to allow May to start his suspension at the beginning of the 2023 season instead of enforcing it right away, which would have prevented him from playing in the finals.
‘He has got to court and admitted the kid had somehow filmed him and he asked him to take it off his phone and he wouldn’t do it, but none of this warrants what happened here,’ Kent fumed on NRL360 at the time.
‘And yet the NRL, under some system that has never been applied before, are allowing him to serve a two-game suspension in Rounds 1 and 2 next year, rather than right now.
‘Because for some reason they have decided that finals games are worth more than normal games, the old buy now, pay later scheme.
‘It is absolutely ridiculous, it is an indictment on the management of the NRL that don’t know what they are doing.’
May also recently shocked the NRL by getting his surname inked on his neck in huge letters.
He also has the word ‘pain’ tattooed underneath his right eye, a broken heart under his left and ‘Meliodas’ – the name of an anime character – written right across his chest.
‘I’m real impulsive and I always wanted tattoos on my face because I wanted to see how quickly people change and judge towards me,’ he said in 2023.
Kent has been temporarily removed from his positions at Fox Sports and the Daily Telegraph as his employers look into the incident.
A 35-year-old man went to Balmain police station around 6.45pm on Sunday, was later taken to Newtown police station, and charged with affray as police began an investigation upon seeing the video.
He received conditional bail and is expected to appear in court on June 7.
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