Annette Sharp: Jackie O and Gemma O’Neill deny losing money on Paltrow event

Jackie ‘O’ Henderson’s business partner Gemma O’Neill has denied rumours the women lost money on Gwyneth Paltrow’s much-hyped Sydney appearance, writes Annette Sharp.

Jackie “O” Henderson’s business partner Gemma O’Neill has denied the women lost money on their first foray into the events management space with Gwyneth Paltrow’s one-night Sydney appearance.

O’Neill, who with her friend of 20 years, radio star Henderson, launched events’ promotions company Besties last year, denies the women were left out of pocket over the Goop founder’s public appearance in October.

On Thursday, O’Neill said despite the chosen venue — an ICC theatre — being half-empty at the October 27 event, the women did in fact turn a profit.

However, she declined to reveal the extent of that profit.

According to sources close to the venture, Paltrow’s six-figure fee –

— coupled with the cost of hiring one of Sydney’s most expensive venues, an 8000-seat theatre at Darling Harbour’s ICC — saw the rookie entrepreneurs up against it on their first outing.

Jackie ‘O’ Henderson (L to R), Gwyneth Paltrow and Gemma O’Neill at the Besties event.

People paid between $100 and $2500 to watch Henderson interview Paltrow.

Talent managers have put Paltrow’s appearance between $150,000 and $500,000 and said she would have charged at least $250,000 to fly to Australia.

Add international travel time to and from the US, first-class travel and accommodation into the mix, and they could easily have been down for another $50k. The ICC’s Aware Super Theatre, meanwhile, is one of the most expensive venues in town and more costly than the Sydney Opera House.

Henderson and O’Neill flew into Melbourne to watch the tennis on Thursday. Picture: Purple Star Photos

O’Neill, a former radio executive who last year took over managing Henderson’s well-established career, said the objective had always been to half-fill the ICC theatre.

“Look, we’re not professional events people and we are very new to this game … but we are really proud of the fact we wanted to do it and are having a crack,” she said, speaking exclusively to this column on Thursday as she and Henderson headed to Melbourne for the Australian Open.

“The ICC is the only venue that offered more than 2000 capacity. You can book it for full capacity or half-full. We booked for half capacity and sold just under half 4000 seats,” she said.

Tickets for the event — an interview session between the KIISFM star and Paltrow — started at $100 and ran to $2500 for a VIP ticket.

Sources familiar with the event have told this column the rookie organisers struggled to offload tickets and were forced to hand out freebies to bump up attendance numbers.

O’Neill denied this, saying only 20 tickets were given away via a KIISFM promotion.

“When we launched it, we didn’t know how it would be received,” O’Neill said.

“We’re not professional events people. We are still in our infancy.

“We just felt like we wanted to put something out there that was about learning. And we wanted to make it fun,” she said.

“Promotions is very hard, and can be very hard when you don’t have a megaphone, but we have Jac,” she said, recognising the role Henderson will play spruiking the couple’s Besties’ events.

O’Neill scotched claims there had been a poor response to a Besties’ four-day Kokomo Island trip in December, for which tickets started at $11,500 per head.

She also denied a second trip to Fiji, slated for September this year according to the company website, had been cancelled due to lack of interest.

A three-day retreat to a Southern Highlands’ guesthouse in March, she said, was sold out. O’Neill added there were two guest speakers in the pipeline for future 2024 chatfests, although neither of the status of Paltrow.

“We are expanding our remit and won’t be just having a stereotypical approach (booking only high-profile celebrities),” she said.

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