Insiders say Nine ‘like Hunger Games’ as Cullen axed

Insiders claim Alex Cullen was ‘collateral damage’ as Nine over corrects ‘for the sins of their past’.

It was a move that was meant to fix Nine’s toxic culture – but the independent external review at Nine has turned into what current and ex-employees are branding “the Hunger Games”.

And the shock move to axe TV host Alex Cullen this week after receiving $50,000 from Melbourne entrepreneur Adrian “Lambo Guy” Portelli has staff asking why Nine was happy to turn a blind eye to grooming, sexual harassment, sexual intimidation, bullying and an abuse of power for so many years and not a “silly mistake” by “a decent and hard-working journo”.

“This whole ‘culture’ review which Nine commissioned has turned into Hunger Games culture and who can make the biggest complaint first will get ahead – that’s an awful culture,” one insider told Sunday Confidential. “No one has anyone else’s back.”

Many say this is why Cullen was sacked.

“How can anyone feel safe there when no one has your back,” claimed another source.

“That’s why Alex Cullen had to fall on his sword.

Axed TV host Alex Cullen. Picture: Don Arnold/WireImage

“He is a great journalist and an even better person. He really proved himself during the Olympics.

“He made a silly mistake and it was handled badly.

“So many journalists feel uneasy about how easily Nine can flick one of the really good guys for a silly mistake that could have easily been managed by him stepping down for six weeks and making him do a refresher on media ethics.”

The Nine Willoughby studios in Sydney. Picture: AAP Image/Dean Lewins

Other Nine employees claim there are still staff working for the network who were complicit in and aware of the toxic events which took place at Nine Entertainment. However, they have managed to keep their jobs.

“Nine has officially gone mad,” said another TV insider.

“He is a working father and a family man and they just cut him like that. The company is hypocritical and ridiculous. Ordinary, everyday Aussies do not care about this stuff. This is Nine overcorrecting for the sins of their past. Alex is collateral damage.

“What are they even trying to prove? They didn’t sack him for the viewers, as they all wanted him to stay.

“ The comments on every news story say they can’t understand why he has been sacked. It is woke and it is nuts.

“The move has sent culture to a new all-time low at the network. We thought it was bad, now it’s diabolical.”

However other journalists, who live and die by their code of conduct ethics, believed it was untenable for Nine to keep Cullen after he received the cash into his bank account.

As for what’s next for Cullen, it’s not likely he will return to his former employer, Channel 7. Portelli has apparently vowed to help him find a job.

Cullen has since been replaced by Weekend Today host Clint Stanaway, a veteran news and sports journalist who reported live from Melbourne as part of Nine’s Australian Open coverage.

Fellow Nine News Sydney sports anchor and Nine’s Wide World of Sport host, Roz Kelly, also stood in for Cullen this week.

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