Queensland’s ‘loathsome cowboy’ Khory Hancock called out by dozens of women
Queensland’s “Environmental Cowboy” – once touted as one of the state’s most eligible bachelors – has been called out by dozens of women for sending inappropriate messages – some of which he has expressed regret for or said were taken out of context.
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Queensland’s “Environmental Cowboy” – once touted as one of the state’s most eligible bachelors – has been called out by dozens of women as a creep who sends sexually inappropriate and pushy messages.
Khory Hancock, the son of former Queenslander of the Year Lloyd Hancock, has fashioned himself as a shirtless eco-warrior, a persona that has seen him featured on prime-time television and radio programs and booked for regular speaking engagements.
Mr Hancock has claimed to have been offered roles on various reality shows, including The Bachelor, Married at First Sight and Love Island, but turned them all down because “it’s not the right way to go for me”.
But he has now been called out as a sleaze who can’t take rejection, telling one woman, “I won’t be stopping mid-sex,” and later threatening: “I still have those naked photographs of you – how would you like it if I posted them?”
In another case, he wrote a list of “house rules” for a female flatmate, insisting “you don’t go anywhere without me” and that she be “open and honest with ALL messages …. including deleted ones”.
Others described how he became aggressive and messaged them repeatedly after they rejected him on dating apps.
Dozens of women came forward about their experiences with Mr Hancock after Queensland woman Mairen Kelly called him out on social media.
The Sunday Mail contacted Mr Hancock on Friday and asked him to respond to the allegations.
He said he intended to but needed more time to consult with his lawyer.
But in messages he sent to others – obtained by The Sunday Mail – Mr Hancock claimed he’d been taken out of context.
In one, he wrote to feminist and author Clementine Ford after she commented on his behaviour.
“This has been taken out of context. I didn’t even mean to say not stopping `mid sex’. I meant that I wouldn’t engage to start with if she was unsure,” he wrote.
“I have learnt a lot since … I am human and make mistakes and honestly try hard to learn and fix them.”
To a female friend about his interactions with Ms Kelly, he wrote: “Half these things coming out are lies. I’m not condoning certain messages but this is not what you think. It’s getting amplified and it’s bullying. Just trust me that I can come back and do better.”
Ms Kelly wrote the posts after seeing the Environmental Cowboy interviewed on Studio 10 on September 30.
Mr Hancock’s website and Instagram and Twitter accounts have all since disappeared.
A blog post on his now-missing website was a list of eco-dating tips, including one in which he suggested ending a first date with: “So, I’ll see you next week for a second date. Note the absence of a question mark here … don’t leave room for choice, it can potentially backfire.”
One woman said in response to Ms Kelly: “My message straight off the bat from Khory over social media was … `you smile too much, I think you’d smile less with my dick in your ass’.”
Ms Kelly, who received a letter from Mr Hancock’s lawyer demanding she remove her posts, provided a text message conversation in which they’d discussed consensual rough sex.
During the conversation, Mr Hancock said he would “basically rape” her and that she had to “make it real or it won’t be a turn on”.
Ms Kelly responded with: “If I say stop, you have to stop.”
Mr Hancock replied: “If you’re having sex with me, you’re not saying stop.”
“I mean, there’s no reason to stop sex and no I won’t be stopping mid sex. I hate girls that do that. So no. If you’re going to do that, I’m out.”
When she argued the point, Mr Hancock told her she was “being a little intense” and to “be quiet”.
He also told her he refused to wear a condom during anal sex because “no pregnancy there”.
Ms Kelly told The Sunday Mail she and Mr Hancock never met and that she blocked him after a couple of weeks of online chat when the conversation made her uncomfortable.
She said she contacted a women’s event he was due to speak at to tell them about her conversation with him. The organisation forwarded her complaint to Mr Hancock, who texted her saying she was “cyber bullying” him and that “I still have those naked photos of you, how would you like it if I posted them”.
Ms Kelly said she posted about Mr Hancock on social media because she wanted people to know “how common this is”.
“It just made me feel very small and I think he thinks it’s not a big deal,” she said.
“I don’t think he understands it’s not about him – it’s about how men do this and they get away with it. And nobody says anything.”
The Sunday Mail also spoke with a former housemate of Mr Hancock who alleged he wrote her a series of “house rules” she was instructed to live by.
They included that she was not to go anywhere without him and that she show him her messages, including deleted messages.
“You tell me the moment you are talking to someone you want to date/f…,” Mr Hancock wrote.
“You should consider giving me a free pass for two people to sleep with. (Another woman) and I have been talking for your information.”
The housemate, who asked that her name not be published, was in a sexual relationship with Mr Hancock but they had agreed they were not “together”.
“The ‘rules’ given to me are just a snippet of the letter I burnt out of anger,” she said.
“I still have letters, texts and messages on social media but wish I could share his calls, the stuff I burnt, the things he said to me in person and all the signs I ignored.”
A Queensland scientist who posts to a large Instagram following as “Biologist Ellie” came across Mr Hancock on a dating app.
“My interaction with him was absolutely horrible,” she told The Sunday Mail.
Ellie said she was only on the app sporadically and opened it to a “barrage” of messages from Mr Hancock, who she said appeared angry that she hadn’t responded immediately.
“And I replied something to the effect of, sorry about that – because he was calling me rude,” Ellie said.
She said she eventually told him she was getting some “red flags” and was going to “unmatch” but he managed to find her Instagram despite her using a nickname on the dating app.
“There were messages in my Instagram inbox saying that I was rude and a pig. So I just blocked him. I didn’t even reply,” Ellie alleged.
“It’s not uncommon for women working in science and environment to be targeted and harassed by men of authority in their field.”
High-profile conservationist and filmmaker Madison “Shark Girl” Stewart also described a run-in with Mr Hancock.
She alleged she had “about 20” women contact her to share their stories after she commented on Ms Kelly’s Instagram with: “Yep, I’ve experienced the same from him.”
Speaking from Florida, Ms Stewart said Mr Hancock messaged her “a couple of years ago” and she ended up having to block him.
“He had messaged me and asked me to attend an event with him,” she said.
“I think it was a Steve Irwin dinner or something. I said `look, thankyou, I kind of have a boyfriend, so not really sure that I can’.
“The next thing I remember was having to block him because I was just getting harassed. There is no other way to say it, I was just getting harassed. Constant messages and really aggressive messages that were basically a reaction to him being rejected.”
A reality television star who knows Mr Hancock through science circles said she distanced herself from him after he expressed his disappointment that she’d started dating someone new.
“He wasn’t very keen on me having a new partner without having a chance to `have a go with me’ were his words,” she told The Sunday Mail.
Best-selling author of I Quit Sugar Sarah Wilson said she’d had run-ins with Mr Hancock on her social media accounts. She said Mr Hancock would repeatedly comment on her knowledge of climate science and attempt to engage in arguments with her and other commenters.
She said she eventually told him to stop “gaslighting” people in her feed.
He responded by claiming she was “sexist” and “objectifying him”.
“(He was) responding to other people’s comments and belittling them. And always women,” she said.
“Tearing women down and attacking their credentials is a favourite technique online.
“They come at us, they take up our feed, they take up our emotional energy and then we are then forced to go silent because it is the only way that we can survive the onslaught.”
In a response to The Sunday Mail yesterday, Mr Hancock wrote: “Given the unrealistic time frame you have given me to reply, I have been forced to respond to your proposed article and questions with no comment after seeking legal advice. It is however, important to note that I have never met Mairen and blocked her 2.5 years ago immediately after the consensual and sexually charged conversation became confusing and misunderstandings began to arise. Regardless, anyone in my past that I have unintentionally made uncomfortable, I am sorry for and am now taking time to reflect, heal and grow.”
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