Channel 7’s former NRL reporter Josh Massoud seeking six-figure payout after threatening co-worker
ANGRY Channel 7 sports reporter Josh Massoud is demanding a six-figure payout from the network after being suspended for allegedly threatening to “slit” the throat of a young colleague.
Confidential
Don't miss out on the headlines from Confidential. Followed categories will be added to My News.
ANGRY Channel 7 sports reporter Josh Massoud is demanding a six-figure payout from the network after being suspended for allegedly threatening to “slit” the throat of a young colleague.
Massoud, who was stood down on May 1, has now hired the lawyer known by some in the business as “Samoan lawyer” John Laxon, a nod to the uncompromising lawyer of fabled American writer Hunter S Thompson.
a young colleague and was stood down. Picture: Supplied
Laxon has represented some of the highest-profile media operatives, including Channel 9’s 60 Minutes’ producer Stephen Rice, who was sacked by Nine for his part in the program’s Beirut child snatching scandal, producer Mark Llewellyn, who tipped a bucket on Eddie McGuire in a 2006 affidavit after being poached from Channel 9 to Channel 7, 2GB website manager Richard Palmer who claimed he was bullied by Ray Hadley, and sacked Channel 10 newsreader Tracey Spicer.
Massoud was suspended from duty at Seven after he allegedly threatened to “slit” a 22-year-old Queensland cub reporter’s neck and “shit down” his neck after the young Prime reporter broke an embargo earlier this month.
Seven’s Sydney news director Jason Morrison refused to furnish this columnist with further detail of the threatened lawsuit yesterday saying only the matter was “being dealt with privately”.
Seven is understood to be encouraging Massoud to resign and take a severance payment. The amount of that payment seems to be the reason for Laxon’s involvement.
Former part-time producer and reporter Michelle Bishop has been moved up the ranks at Seven to replace Massoud in the rugby league ranks.
In the week that followed Massoud’s suspension, the matter has fuelled much talk within the media and become the inspiration for comedy skits at Fox Sports where a sketch on The Professor’s Farewell Tour took a dig at it last week.