Chiefs rugby players accused of ‘licking and touching’ stripper at end-of-season celebration

A HOST of high profile rugby players are in hot water after a stripper accused them of “licking” her during drunken celebrations.

The Chiefs end of season celebration has put the club in a compromising position.

AN ADULT performer has accused the Chiefs Super Rugby team of drunken pack mentality after she was hired for their end-of-season celebration.

Radio New Zealand spoke with the stripper, known only as Scarlette, who said she was made to feel extremely uncomfortable during her performance at a hot pool in a Waikato bar.

“I made it very clear that I didn’t want to be touched, even though I had a smile on my face it doesn’t affect the words coming out of your mouth — that was just me maintaining my professionalism, trying to get out of there safely,” Scarlette said.

The performer said that there were no members of Chiefs management present at the celebration, which left her to ask the players herself that they settle down.

“Which they didn’t. Things escalated,” she said.

“I told them not to pull this stuff with me. It’s not on. It was a pack mentality.​

“Basically, they wanted me to be a whore, which I wasn’t there to be. And when I went to collect payment they short-changed me and basically just made it very hostile and I had to leave immediately, because I was quite upset.

“I was on my own there so you would think they would see that I was one woman walking into a group of — I mean, I don’t know how many of the rugby team but there were a lot of people there.

“I had one of the players going through my phone, they proceeded to lick me in places that I don’t totally agree with. I felt like I was pressured for that.”

A loss to the Hurricanes was the least of the franchise’s problems.

Scarlette expressed her right to speak out against the ill-treatment, and said that the players should not be exempt from the same rules as anyone else, just because they are professional athletes.

“Why are they exempt because they’re professional sports players? Why am I not allowed to speak out, and why should I accept that that’s the norm? It’s not (the norm) in my life and it shouldn’t be in any other girl’s life,” she said.

The Chiefs bowed out of the Super Rugby competition last Saturday after a 25-9 thrashing at the hands of rival Kiwi outfit, the Hurricanes. Since then, things have gone from bad to worse for the Hamilton-based franchise.

Forward Michael Allardice was in trouble on Tuesday for shouting homophobic slurs directed at a Waikato man and two friends during celebrations at the hot pools.

“Here come the gays, here come the gays”, Allardice admitted to saying.

He later apologised for the comments.

Chiefs CEO, Andrew Flexman, said that it was a bad look for the franchise, but warned others not to take the accusations as gospel.

“You have got to remember this is one person’s accusation and her standing in the community and culpability is not beyond reproach,” Flexman told stuff.co.nz.

“I don’t think it’s a good look. Clearly it’s something as an organisation, it’s not good, and it’s not acceptable.”

It is currently unclear what penalties, if any, will be imposed on players by Chiefs management.

Originally published as Chiefs rugby players accused of ‘licking and touching’ stripper at end-of-season celebration