close
close

Australian television under fire after image of 'Sexy Santa' dancers at staff meeting goes viral

During the meeting, the female employees reacted with shock.

A local Australian news channel has come under fire after a video of a dancing group of “sexy Santas” emerged from what was supposedly a routine staff meeting. According to the New York Post, The meeting of Seven Network parent company Seven West Media in Perth was held on Friday last week and was to introduce new appointments. It was as the deputy director of news was discussing an upcoming program when Mariah Carey's “All I want for Christmas' started playing and a group of dancers wearing Santa hats and short red dresses appeared on the stage.

According to the postA photo of the meeting was shared on social media and drew heavy criticism. Many said it was a scene straight out of the 1980s. Female staff reacted with shock to the meeting and some even left in protest.

“OMG – if they thought this was even remotely appropriate given everything we've found out about them, the cultural fabric of this organization is completely broken,” wrote one social media user. “This will help fix the culture issues that have been uncovered,” said another.

“At a Seven West Media staff meeting last Friday, dancers dressed as sexy Santas performed. I thought this was a parody news story until I saw it confirmed by numerous news outlets. So Seven is STILL stuck in the 1970s,” commented a third.

A spokesman for Seven West Media, however, defended the dancers and said they were part of the Christmas spectacle, which was a “Perth institution”.

Read also | American woman talks about her weight loss after losing a whopping 226 kg

Meanwhile, according to the postThe incident came amid ongoing investigations into alleged inappropriate conduct at the media network. In recent weeks, veteran Sydney reporter Robert Ovadia filed suit against the company in the Federal Court. Mr Ovadia reportedly resigned from his post in June following an investigation into allegations of inappropriate conduct.

Mr Ovadia filed suit in the Federal Court against the Seven Network and its head of news, Anthony De Ceglie, claiming Seven told him there were no complaints against him. “Any suggestion that I behaved inappropriately at any time is false, malicious and will be defended,” he said.

The media group, for its part, said it takes all allegations of retaliation for sexual harassment, bullying and other behavior deemed inappropriate “seriously.”

You may also like...