It was supposed to be a fun stunt to excite Seven staff for the upcoming Alinta Energy Christmas Pageant, but the four ‘Sexy Santas’ dancing to Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas resulted in female staff members walking out of a company ‘Town Hall’ meeting and subsequent headlines.
The Australian Financial Review first published this live stream screenshot of the moment Seven’s Perth news director, Ray Kuka, addressed staff last Friday.
A Seven spokesman told the AFR the dancers were part of the pageant, dubbed “a Perth institution.” The Age also noted no official complaints were filed. But it also reported several women walked out of the address, returning to their respective offices.
One staffer at the town hall said, speaking on condition of anonymity said, “It’s the contrast. Four men talking about business, then four women come in, dolled up and scantily clad. What is the role of women at this company?”
The staffer said the performance was inappropriate, adding “It felt like the ’80s” (the single was released in 1994, so not quite).
It’s a sensitive time for Seven after recent allegations were aired on Four Corners around work culture and recent comments by Ryan Stokes around Seven and the media sector more broadly.
“We need to focus on what our issue is, but it has been an industry-wide problem. And we just need to make sure the industry is making changes,” he said.
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