Carrie Bickmore and Tommy Little have been brutally slammed after the radio hosts 'mocked' a New Zealand author's heartfelt poem dedicated to 'sleepless' mothers.
Jessica Urlichs penned 'a love note' from the perspective of an infant telling its mother how much it loves her.
Bickmore read the poem out loud on her radio show Carrie & Tommy on Friday, but Little, 39, refused to take the poem seriously.
'For some reason, [these poems are] in my algorithm a lot. And they're like, letters or notes from babies to their mums,' Bickmore explained.
Little asked Bickmore if she actually believed the poem was written by a baby, to which she said: 'I don't think the baby's written it.'
Carrie Bickmore and Tommy Little have been brutally slammed after the radio hosts 'mocked' a New Zealand author's heartfelt poem dedicated to 'sleepless' mothers
'Because you're an incredibly intelligent woman,' Little continued. 'But the first time you brought us one of these, did you think the baby had written it?'
'Of course I didn't think the baby had written it. It's through the eyes of the baby,' Bickmore explained as she tried to contain her laughter.
Little continued on with his joke and said he believes a middle-aged man wrote the poem, before Bickmore identified Urlichs as the author.
'It's not. It's a woman that's got real poetry. It starts with: "I love you",' she said.
'This is a man pretending to be a baby,' Little responded.
Jessica Urlichs penned 'a love note' from the perspective of an infant telling its mother how much it loves her
'No, stop saying that!' Bickmore snapped back. 'Stop ruining it. I think for people out there who've had a sleepless night with their baby, this will hit you in your core.'
Little continued on as Bickmore read the poem to listeners, with laughter heard throughout the studio from producers.
A video of the segment was posted to the show's Instagram page and it was quickly inundated with a torrent of backlash from followers.
The author Urlichs took exception to the segment and commented beneath the video herself, saying: 'If you'd asked for my permission to post this and I'd seen how it was mocked throughout I would have said no.
'I really appreciate when people share my words because I hope it helps more mums. But my writing just felt like a punch line here.'
Bickmore read the poem out loud on her radio show Carrie & Tommy on Friday, but Little, 39, refused to take the poem seriously
A video of the segment was posted to the show's Instagram page, which was quickly inundated with a torrent of backlash from followers and Urlichs herself
Urlichs also claimed she was 'ignored' by producers of the Fox FM show when she asked them to delete the video from their social media accounts, so she took to her own Instagram page to pen an open letter to the Carrie & Tommy show.
'I don't have any words left to truly articulate the schoolyard bullying you displayed in your recent segment across multiple radio stations,' she wrote on Sunday.
'You used my heartfelt poem (without permission) as your very weak punchline. Your co-host wasn't allowing a voice for post-partum women, nor you for that matter, and as a woman who was once post-partum it was very disappointing to see you reduce yourself to his childlike behaviour on such an important topic.'
Urlichs also claimed she was 'ignored' by producers of the Fox FM show when she asked them to delete the video from their social media accounts, so she took to her own Instagram page to pen an open letter to the Carrie & Tommy show
She finished her lengthy message with: 'It was hurtful as a writer, but as a mother and woman, it was devastating'
'While I want to believe you read my poem with good intentions, you also knew how to read the room and knew the intellect of your co-host. I imagine you knew how it would play out,' Urlichs added.
'It all seems rather performative after belittling the very real and vulnerable emotions echoed from postpartum mothers everywhere. Where was the respect here?'
She finished her lengthy message with: 'It was hurtful as a writer, but as a mother and woman, it was devastating.'
Listeners appeared to agree with Urlichs' comments, with many leaving their own scathing messages for the pair
Listeners appeared to agree with Urlichs' comments, with many leaving their own scathing messages for the pair.
'Seeing a man squirm at even the idea of vulnerability between a mother and baby is so revealing. Reminds me of boys in middle school who make jokes during the sad parts in movies. Someone's got some growing up to do and it's not the baby in the poem,' one person wrote.
'The postpartum period for women can be profound, gruelling, lonely, confusing and scary... But yeah, why not crack jokes about it!?!? Silly mothers and their hysterical emotions. Imagine needing to write or read about such a frivolous thing as motherhood!' a third added.
Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Urlichs and the Carrie & Tommy show's parent company Southern Cross Austereo for comment.
