Bullied 9-year-old Quaden Bayles turns down Ellen DeGeneres show, speaks to Australian network instead
The Australian schoolboy who was bullied over his dwarfism has reportedly turned down an invitation by Ellen DeGeneres.
The 9-year-old boy gained considerable support from the likes of Hugh Jackman and Australian rugby league stars after the story of his schoolyard bullying grabbed international headlines.
Quaden was born with the most common form of dwarfism known as achondroplasia. Quaden hit the headlines after his mother Yarraka Bayles uploaded a video of him crying hysterically and aking his mother for a rope so that he could kill himself after he was bullied at school. His mother shared the video on social media in a bid to spread awareness of the effects of bullying.
Quaden caught the attention of famed talk show host and comedian Ellen DeGeneres, who reportedly invited him on her show. But according to TV Blackbox, the Bayles family declined the offer. The family had earlier declined to appear on a UK morning television show as well.
However, Quaden's family chose to make an appearance on NITV, an indigenous television station in Australia.
During the interview with the outlet, Quaden opened up about his recent "cool" experience at the Indigenous All Stars rugby league match against the New Zealand Māori team on the Gold Coast.
When asked why he doesn't like to attend school, Quaden said it was "because of the bullies, because they've never seen different people before".
Meanwhile, his mother explained that she chose to film her son as she "felt hopeless". "I felt really and truly hopeless," she said.
Quaden's story also caught the attention of American comedian Brad Williams, who set up a GoFundMe page called 'Let's send a wonderful kid to Disneyland!' He said that through this gesture he hoped to show the boy "there is good in the world".
The page eventually raised more than $463,000. However, the money was ultimately rejected by Quaden's family, who said they would rather see the money be given to a charity to combat bullying and suicide.