Anton Forte, director of a hotel group that has been embroiled in controversy in recent months, has stepped down as chief executive.
Swillhouse faced explosive allegations about rape, drug use and sexual competition among staff at his luxury venues, prompting Forte, who is not personally accused of any crime, to admit the company “screwed up”.
The company, which owns six high-profile Sydney venues including Le Foote restaurant in The Rocks and CBD whiskey bar Baxter Inn, has been left reeling after explosive allegations made by staff came to light by first time in August.
Now Forte has announced that Lisa Hobbs, former director of another hospitality group, Etymon Projects, has taken on the role of chief executive of Swillhouse.
In an email sent to staff on Friday, Forte, 40, said Hobbs would build “a stronger, better future for Swillhouse.”
Forte’s exit from the spotlight is more lateral than rear, as he will remain in the newly created CEO role.
He told staff he would “work closely with and support Lisa as she drives the evolution of Swillhouse”.
Forte is the sole director of Swillhouse and his family business, Mangia Questa (Eat This), is the only other shareholder, corporate records show.
The director of the Swillhouse hotel group (pictured venue), which has been embroiled in controversy in recent months, has stepped down as chief executive.
Mrs. Hobbs said to the Sydney Morning Herald She would work with staff “to identify our opportunities and challenges.”
“As CEO, I will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the entire business, with Anton taking on a more supervisory role,” he said.
Disturbing allegations made against Swillhouse include accusations of sexual assault, widespread drug use and staff being encouraged to have sexual relationships with clients.
Two Swillhouse executives, Toby Hilton and Jordan McDonald, have left the company in recent weeks, as has Myffy Rigby, editor of its lifestyle publication Swill.
Daily Mail Australia does not suggest that any of those three people have been charged with any crime.
“We sincerely regret and apologize to any former employees who did not feel supported,” Forte said when the allegations first surfaced.
A woman who worked as a waitress at Hubert, another of the company’s award-winning restaurants, alleged that a colleague raped her in the bathrooms in 2013 after they made her a cocktail containing 10 different gins.
“I got blackout drunk and blacked out and I found him raping me in the women’s bathroom at work,” the woman, who is filing a police complaint, told the newspaper. Sydney Morning Herald.
Other restaurant staff claimed there was a special room where they made lines of cocaine during their shifts, while the Baxter Inn’s all-male waiting team allegedly competed to sleep with customers in a warehouse.
A $1,000 bottle of wine was supposedly up for grabs for the first bartender to have sex with a customer.
The Baxter Inn’s all-male waiting team (pictured) reportedly competed to sleep with customers in a warehouse, with a $1,000 bottle of wine on offer for the first to succeed.
Former employees told the Herald that all conquests were noted and ranked in order of attractiveness during staff meetings.
Swillhouse has been inundated with complaints from disgruntled former customers.
“The fact that their PR leader and director of Frankies could get away with the Instagram username ‘Wang Dang Sweet Poontang’ (the title of a sexually explicit song about a teenage girl) says a lot about their company” , one person wrote.
This was a reference to Mr McDonald, who handled creative direction, events, entertainment, public relations and strategy for the restaurant group, and who previously used the name ‘@wangdangsweetpoontang’ on one of his accounts.
It is the title of a 1977 song by American rock musician Ted Nugent, who fantasizes about a ‘teenage queen’.
Two Swillhouse executives, Toby Hilton and Jordan McDonald (pictured), have left the company in recent weeks, as has Myffy Rigby, editor of its lifestyle publication Swill.
“It looks so clean, especially in the middle,” the lyrics say.
Nugent, one of Donald Trump’s most outspoken supporters in the music world, sings in a later verse: “She’s so sweet when she pulls my flesh.”
McDonald told Daily Mail Australia it was his “private Instagram” and insisted it had “nothing to do with Swillhouse.”
“I changed the name because it was inappropriate and I regret it,” he said.
When asked why he had tagged Swillhouse Hospitality and Frankie’s Bar in the description, he did not respond.
In an email announcing his resignation as CEO of Swillhouse, Hilton said working there was “the best part of my life’s work.”
“The last few weeks have been very hard, but they have taught us an important lesson: to realize that good actions or good intentions mean little if the experience is not consistent for everyone,” he wrote.
“There is clearly a different reality between what we thought we had created and what existed for some, which I am very sorry for.”
Forte has denied any claims that he was responsible for the company’s culture or that he encouraged inappropriate behavior.