Kerri-Anne Kennerley's shocking assault allegation
Kerri-Anne Kennerley has opened up about a shocking incident of sexual assault involving a former network boss.
The former TV presenter shared the story with her campmates on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here, as she revealed that the unnamed male had “unzipped” her dress during a staff gathering.
“It was a Christmas party for our show, and as I was standing there, the back of my dress, the zip, was being unzipped,” she said in a piece to camera.
“So as I swung around to basically say stop it and deck said person, I realised it was the station owner. And I did say, ‘Zip it up or I will deck you.’”
The 66-year-old did not specify when the incident occurred, and did not name the person involved.
Earlier in the episode, Kennerley had been sharing her thoughts on the rife misogyny within the media industry, as she told former host of The Project Peter Helliar she thought it was a "boys club".
“Chauvinism, harassment, hideous behaviour,” she said, describing some of the men she’d encountered throughout her career.
“Executives and producers hitting on the younger girls in there. You know, somebody hits on you and you just draw the line in the sand and everybody gets back to work, that was just the way it was.”
Kennerley added that, in her experience in media, female employees had often been left to pick up the slack for male co-workers.
“The women were all researchers, producers and the guys would sort of tick off yes, yes and then go to lunch for four hours,” she said.
“And the show would all get together because most of the women did all of the work. At the end of the day, you just want to make good TV.
“It has always been just about get a job, hang on to it as long as you can, do as well as you can, and when it is over, you get another one. You just keep doing it, keep turning up.”
Kerri-Anne's extensive media career began in 1981 as she became the host of Good Morning Australia, and she stayed on the air until Kerri-Anne's final episode aired in 2011.
She then became a regular co-host on Ten’s Studio 10 for two years, but left the show in 2020.
Image credits: I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here