New footage of Seven’s ‘sexy Santa’ performance emerges as boss defends bizarre scantily clad dance at staff meeting
Amid growing criticism, footage has leaked of Seven West Media’s infamous “Sexy Santa” dance, which was dismissed by a top boss as “over the top”.
The Seven Network has faced heavy criticism for the inappropriate performance of female dancers at its town hall meeting in Perth last Friday.
What was intended to be a celebration of the company’s first appointment of a female editor, Sarah-Jane Tasker, and an LGBT editor, Adrian Lowe, was quickly overshadowed by the four dancers.
Deputy Director of News Ray Kuka discussed Seven West’s upcoming tasks, including broadcasting the annual Perth Christmas Spectacular on December 7, featuring Mariah Carey’s classic Christmas hit “All I Want for Christmas”.
The footage showed a group of scantily clad dancers entering the stage wearing Santa hats, short red dresses and high heels.
They then performed a dance routine that included high kicks.
The awkward clip was leaked on Tuesday and drew massive criticism over the photos of the performance. One commentator compared the dancers to “sloppy elves.”
Female employees who watched said they were “speechless and horrified” by the bizarre scene and left the room in disgust.
A Seven West Media meeting on Friday featured a performance by scantily clad Christmas dancers (pictured).
On Tuesday, footage of the performance (pictured) leaked out, with some workers reportedly leaving the meeting in disgust.
The leaked photos and footage have since spread like wildfire abroad and have been reported worldwide.
The latest incident comes at a time when the broadcaster has been in the spotlight over allegations of inappropriate behavior and a toxic work culture.
“Oh my God – if they even thought that was appropriate given everything we’ve found out about them, then the cultural fabric of this organization is completely broken,” wrote one commenter.
Another added: “How can this be true?”
A third wrote: “This will help fix the cultural problems that have been uncovered.”
An unnamed employee was shocked that the event was moderated by a woman.
“I mean, technically the West is ruled by a woman and she chaired the entire presentation session,” they told The Guardian.
Ms Tasker, the new editor-in-chief of The West Australian, has since described the uproar as “completely exaggerated” and dismissed the criticism as industry rivalry.
She described last Friday’s event as “an upfront-style presentation,” complete with fireworks and sizzle reels.
“I understand Nine’s focus, they obviously want to score points against Seven and will do so in any way possible,” Ms Tasker told The Guardian.
“But I take it personally because what these stories describe is not the workplace that I love and am proud to work in and that I now lead together with Chris Dore.”
A Seven spokesman told AFR the dancers were part of the Christmas spectacular, which is considered a “Perth institution”.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Seven for further comment.
Sarah-Jane Tasker (pictured), the new editor-in-chief of the West Australian, dismissed criticism of the provocative lunchtime performance as “over the top” and described the coverage of the event as industry rivalry.
A Seven spokesman said the dancers (pictured) were promoting the broadcaster’s upcoming Christmas spectacular, which is considered a “Perth institution”.
The controversial meeting comes just weeks after veteran Sydney reporter Robert Ovadia filed suit against the broadcaster in the Federal Court.
Ovadia was removed from office on June 21 following an investigation into allegations of unprofessional conduct.
These allegations include sending offensive messages to a colleague and posting Photoshopped photos of a colleague as a “pole dancer; in a catsuit, brandishing a whip, sitting in a cocktail glass” on Four Corners.
Ryan Stokes, managing director of Seven Group Holdings Ltd, recently described inappropriate behaviour in the media as an “industry-wide problem”.
He made the comments in response to allegations against Nine Entertainment of mistreatment of women and the ABC’s investigation into racism against staff.
Stokes said it was “disappointing that there is a perception that inappropriate behaviour” is tolerated at Seven because “we do not tolerate inappropriate behaviour”.
