An old photograph showing a pay-TV boss performing the Hitler salute has been leaked online, prompting widespread outrage and an apology from the company.
Foxtel chief executive Patrick Delany has apologised after a photograph of him was leaked on Sunday appearing to show him performing a Sieg Heil during Fox Sports’ coverage of A-League football.
Mr Delany said he was “very sorry” in an email to all staff, explaining the photo was 10 years old.
“While context is important, my display of this offensive salute was incorrect,” he said in the email. as seen by Crikey.
Delany, who was CEO of Fox Sports at the time, admitted to the outlet that the image was “shocking.”
But he later claimed he was “demonstrating the similarity” between a Nazi salute and a gesture made by A-League fans of Western Sydney Wanderers during a chant.
“I deeply regret my actions and sincerely apologize to anyone who felt hurt or offended, especially members of the Jewish community,” Delany’s email continued.
Mr Delany has been outspoken in his opposition to antisemitism and was a signatory of the 2023 ‘Say No to Antisemitism’ charter alongside former Premiers Daniel Andrews and Gladys Berejiklian and business leaders Lindsay Fox and Anthony Pratt.
Foxtel chief executive Patrick Delany has apologised after a photo of him giving the Nazi salute was leaked ten years ago.
Mr Delany apologised for the images discovered in a company-wide email sent on Sunday.
Mr Delany said he is “searching (his) mind” for any circumstances”where a photo capturing me in this pose might be possible.
“The image is completely incompatible with my values, beliefs and family connections,” he wrote.
‘Racism in all its forms is not acceptable and I recognize the seriousness of my actions.’
Mr Delany urged staff who felt uncomfortable seeing the photo to email their concerns directly to him.
Jewish and diversity groups have criticized Delany’s actions as “deeply troubling” and an example of “toxic workplace behavior.”
The president of the New South Wales Board of Jewish Deputies, David Ossip, on Monday accepted Mr Delany’s full and unreserved apology to the Jewish community.
Mr Delany understood the “offence and pain that the (Nazi salute) causes to Australian Jews”, Mr Delany said. said Ossip.
‘We accept Patrick’s apology and acknowledge his and Lachlan Murdoch’s firm and unequivocal condemnation of antisemitism in Australia over the past 10 months.’
Mr Murdoch is the chairman of News Corp, which owns a majority stake in Foxtel Group.
During a speech to Australian staff last year, he said there was “room for error”.
“Antisemitism has no place in Australia. It is our duty to address and combat it, as it is our duty to address and combat all forms of hatred,” Murdoch told staff.
Mr. Delany was appointed CEO of Foxtel Group in 2018 and had been instrumental in redefining the broadcaster as a Digital-first enterprise.
Earlier this month, Global News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson announced that Foxtel was up for sale.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Foxtel and News Corp for comment.
Mr Delany encouraged any staff member who felt uncomfortable by the images to contact him with their concerns.
In the company-wide email, Patrick Delany said he had been “searching in his mind” for any circumstance “where a photo capturing me in this pose might be possible.”
In the past, Australian football fans have been criticised for performing the Nazi salute during heated matches.
In April, a western Sydney fan caught giving a Nazi salute at an A-League match was banned from attending games for two years.
In 2022, Nikola Marko Gasparovic, Dominik Sieben and Marijan Lisica faced charges for allegedly making similar gestures during the Australia Cup Final between Sydney United 58 and Macarthur.
Each of them was charged with deliberately displaying a Nazi symbol at a public event without reasonable excuse.
Since then, all Australian states and territories have… He introduced new laws to make it a crime to perform the Nazi salute in public.
The Nazi salute and other hate symbols were also banned under new federal anti-terrorism laws that came into effect in January.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the bill sends a message that “there is no place in Australia for acts and symbols that glorify the horrors of the Holocaust and terrorist acts.”