Footage of Seven West Media’s infamous ‘sexy Santa’ dance has leaked amid mounting criticism that it has been dismissed by a senior boss as ‘over the top’.
The Seven Network has faced a backlash over inappropriate performances by dancers at its Perth town hall meeting on Friday.
What was meant to be a celebration of the company’s first appointment of a female editor, Sarah-Jane Tasker, and an out LGBT editor, Adrian Lowe, was quickly overshadowed by the four dancers.
Deputy News Director Ray Kuka was discussing what was coming up on Seven West’s agenda, including the broadcast of the annual Perth Christmas Festival on December 7, when Mariah Carey’s classic Christmas hit All I Want for Christmas began to play.
The images showed a group of scantily clad dancers, wearing Santa hats, short red dresses and high heels, making their way onto the stage.
They then did a dance routine that included high kicks.
The awkward clip was leaked on Tuesday and sparked massive criticism of photos of the performance, with one commenter comparing the dancers to “sexy elves.”
Female staff watching are said to have been “shocked and horrified” by the bizarre scene and reportedly walked away in disgust.
A Seven West Media gathering on Friday featured a performance by scantily clad Christmas dancers (pictured)
Images of the performance (pictured) leaked on Tuesday with reports claiming some female workers walked out of the meeting in disgust.
The leaked photo and video have gone viral abroad and have been reported by international media.
The latest incident comes at a time when the network has been in the spotlight over allegations of inappropriate behavior and a toxic work culture.
“My goodness, if they thought that was even remotely appropriate given everything we’ve discovered about them, the cultural makeup of that organization is seriously flawed,” one commenter wrote.
Another added: “How is this real?!”
A third wrote: “This will help address the cultural issues that have been uncovered.”
An anonymous staff member was surprised that the event was organized by a woman.
“I mean, technically a woman is running the West and she ran the whole presentation session,” they told The Guardian.
Ms Tasker, the new editor-in-chief of The West Australian, has since called the furore “overblown” and dismissed the criticism as intra-industry rivalry.
She described last Friday’s event as “a frontal-style presentation,” complete with fireworks and presentation videos.
“I understand Nine’s approach, they clearly want to score points against Seven and they will do so in any way possible,” Tasker said. The Guardian.
“But I take it personally because what these stories describe is not the workplace I love and am proud to work in and now lead alongside Chris Dore.”
A Seven spokesperson told AFR the dancers were part of the Christmas Festival, 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 “overblown” and called reports of the event an industry rivalry.
A Seven spokesperson said the dancers (pictured) were aiming to promote the broadcaster’s upcoming Christmas Festival, which is considered a “Perth institution”.
The controversial meeting comes just weeks after veteran Sydney reporter Robert Ovadia launched legal action in the Federal Court against the network.
Ovadia was removed from office on June 21 following an investigation into allegations of unprofessional behavior.
Those allegations include lewd messages to a female colleague and sending Photoshopped photos of a female coworker as a “pole dancer; wearing a catsuit; brandishing a whip; sitting on a cocktail glass” at Four Corners.
Ryan Stokes, chief executive of Seven Group Holdings Ltd, recently described inappropriate behaviour in the media as an “industry-wide problem”.
He made the comments in reference to allegations against Nine Entertainment of mistreatment of women and the ABC investigation into racism directed at staff.
Stokes said it was “It is disappointing that there is a perception that inappropriate behaviour was tolerated at Seven because ‘we do not tolerate any inappropriate behaviour’.”
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