Tim Worner: Seven Network stands by disgraced CEO as he apologises for his actions

AMBER Harrison, former mistress of Channel 7 exec Tim Worner, has used salacious text to make further claims about their relationship, including drug use. The network has been forced to deny there were affairs with other women.

Seven has denied chief Tim Worner had affairs with four women at the network as well as former employee Amber Harrison (pictured).

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THE Seven Network has ­rejected claims disgraced chief executive Tim Worner had affairs with four other women — including two top female Channel 7 stars — as well as his sordid two-year tryst with former employee Amber Harrison.

Ms Harrison claimed the couple also used cocaine to heighten their trysts and that the TV boss sent her a text in June 2013 referring to his drug use: “I think my performance was drug assisted. And if you can go dirtier I am slightly scared. But you are f hot so I will take the chance.”

Amber Harrison says she was in a relationship with Seven boss Tim Worner for more than a year

A statement issued by Seven did not address the drug claims, but said Ms Harrison’s allegations included “wideranging inaccuracies and false statements”.

Seven admitted the sex scandal involving the ­Sydney-based father-of-four and the 37-year-old executive assistant was “completely unacceptable”, adding that “improper behaviour is not part of Seven’s culture”.

The statement contained a second apology from Mr Worner for the affair with the pretty brunette, which took place before he was appointed chief executive, and confirmed he would stay on in his current role.

“This relationship finished some years ago and I apologised at the time and am still trying to make amends,” he said.

“I am obviously filled with the deepest regret and shame. My focus is to continue to work through this in private and minimise the distress to my family.

‘They are the most important people in the world to me and I will continue to fight to repair the damage I caused.”

Tim Worner with his wife Katrina. Worner will stay on in his role as network chief despite the affair with the former employee.

As Seven West Media ­executives were locked in crisis talks yesterday, the company’s sharemarket value plummeted by a staggering $98 million to $1.1 billion, as shareholders fled the stock after Ms Harrison claimed she was paid more than $150,000 to keep silent about the affair, which was conducted between December 2012 and June 2014.

The Australian Shareholders’ Association said “reputations and culture clearly matter for investors”.

I am obviously filled with the deepest regret and shame - WORNER

“When conduct issues are raised about a public company CEO, the board should intervene and ensure the ASX is fully informed. Seven West in bunker!” it tweeted.

Four other women, including a high-profile actress and a presenter at Seven, are named in a letter of complaint lodged by Ms Harrison to the Australian Human Rights Commission.

Seven Network CEO Tim Worner denies sleeping with network celebrities. Picture: Jane Dempster/The Australian.

One former senior Seven employee further claimed Mr Worner engaged in “several’’ more inappropriate trysts, ­including with a second TV presenter.

The source said the four women named in Ms Harrison’s complaint would be “just the tip of the iceberg”.

“I could think of several more off the top of my head — and that’s not including those who turned him down.

Amber Harrison and Tim Worner’s affair carried on for 18 months. After it collapsed, she received $100,000 from Seven. Picture: Supplied

“I’d imagine his charisma would be hard to refuse for some. Plus he’s the boss. You could never reject him and risk offending his ego.”

Referring to one of the four, Ms Harrison claimed had been involved with Mr Worner, the source said: “She was really smug for a while there and that was because she knew she had the boss’s ear. Everyone knew that was happening.”

More details of Mr Worner’s affair with Ms Harrison also emerged yesterday, after it was revealed she alleged that on multiple occasions he texted lewd fantasies in which he outlined what he’d like to do to her, in details too obscene to print.

She claims they had frequent sex at her Sydney home, during work hours and afterwards, travelling in cabs sometimes allegedly charged to company cards.

Ms Harrison also claims they were intimate at boutique NSW venue Bells of Killcare at a July 2013 conference held to celebrate Mr Worner’s promotion to the role of CEO of Seven West.

Another romp allegedly occurred during the Seven-sponsored Australian Open tennis in January 2014.

Worner and Harrison enjoyed a romp at Bells at Killcare to celebrate his promotion to CEO at Seven.

“I knew he was married. It was never about love. It was about sex and power,” Ms Harrison said.

“He likes having a bit on the side. I found our relationship — if you’d call it that — thrilling to begin with.

“It’s not the greatest love story ever told. There were never any gifts. This wasn’t flowers and dinners. I knew what it was.”

She said Mr Worner sent her a text message stating that he “could not stop thinking about being with” her, and ­another time he wrote: “I love being with you. Too much Too sexy.”

In the complaint to the commission, Ms Harrison claims senior executives had been aware of her claims and had paid her ­“silence money”.

Tim Worner has apologised for his actions. Picture: John Feder

In its denial, the Seven West Media’s statement said: “Allegations made in her (Ms Harrison’s) statement which name other employees are rejected totally, including any other allegation that other current or former employees have been paid off.”

The company admitted it had reached a confidential and binding settlement deed with Ms Harrison more than two years ago to help her move on, due what it ­described as her “fragile emotional stability”.

The complaint before the Australian Human Rights Commission remains open and unresolved.

Ms Harrison, frustrated that efforts to negotiate a ­financial settlement with Seven West had fallen over, lifted the lid on the scandal by taking the extraordinary step of emailing news organisations across the nation.

“All they had to do was stick to the deal,” she said.

“It’s like having a bomb strapped to my chest for two years. Now, I’ve exploded it.

“This is not about me trying to be famous, and it’s not about me trying to sell my story,” she added.

“It’s about me trying to get a fair go.

“My only motivation is to get a fair go.”

STATEMENT FROM SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED

December 19, 2016

Seven agrees that the inappropriate consensual sexual relationship made public by Ms Harrison is deeply regrettable.

The chairman has always made clear to Mr Worner that the alleged conduct, even though a personal matter, was completely unacceptable.

Tim Worner apologised at the time, and now, for the inappropriate consensual relationship

with Ms Harrison that commenced prior to his appointment as chief executive.

Allegations made in her statement which name other employees are rejected totally, including any allegation that other current or former employees have been paid off.