Tim Worner: Seven West and chairman Kerry Stokes stand by embattled CEO after board grilling

EXCLUSIVE: SEVEN West’s has questioned its CEO Tim Worner about whether he had engaged in ­sexual affairs with multiple company employees or used drugs at work during his time with the group.

Seven chief executive Tim Worner was grilled by the board over his affair with Harrison.

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SEVEN West Media’s high-powered board has grilled its CEO Tim Worner about whether he had engaged in ­sexual affairs with multiple company employees or used drugs at work during his time with the group.

In an extraordinary meeting of Seven’s 10-member board on Monday, the company’s chairman and owner Kerry Stokes was looped into the phone hook-up from his Beaver Creek ski property in Colorado, where he is spending Christmas.

\Seven West Media CEO Tim Worner and Seven West Chairman Kerry Stokes. Picture: Sam Mooy

The Daily Telegraph understands Mr Worner’s involvement in the meeting was brief but significant.

Insiders say he was asked to answer two key questions relating to his affair with former Seven executive assistant Amber Harrison.

The first question, the insiders said, involved words to the effect of: “Tim, have there been any other relationships like this with anyone from the company?”

Amber Harrison had an affair with Channel 7 Chief Tim Worner between 2012 and 2014.

The second question was about whether he had “ever done drugs in a work context”.

It is understood that Mr Worner’s answer to both questions was a firm “No”.

It is believed the first question was asked specifically in response to allegations made by Ms Harrison that Mr ­Worner had engaged in sexual relationships with at least four other women working at the network — two of whom were said to be high-profile personalities.

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

The board is understood to have concluded that they did not “condone” the affair, but that it was “a personal matter and it was consensual”.

Insiders say the second question was asked because the Seven board had wanted to know specifically whether Mr Worner had engaged in illegal drug use in a work setting, rather than in a private forum.

Apart from the formidable Seven chairman, his son Ryan Stokes, former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett and former iiNet chief executive ­Michael Malone were all involved in the meeting.

Harrison claimed she and Worner used cocaine to heighten their trysts.

Insiders say the elder Mr Stokes has been “embarrassed” by this week’s revelations, but has given his unequivocal backing to Mr Worner continuing in his role as the company’s CEO.

Seven’s public backing of Mr Worner in a statement released on Monday night was a key factor in the 6 per cent recovery in Seven’s shares yesterday to 79.5c. They had plunged on Monday after news of the affair first broke.

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

One source said that when Mr Stokes first learned of the affair with Ms Harrison around August 2014, he gave Mr Worner “the rounds of the kitchen” and told him that he had “let the company down”.

But the company also believes that this week’s developments have revealed nothing that Mr Stokes and the members of the Seven board’s audit committee did not already know.

As one source put it: “Having made the decision to back him two years ago, it is hard not to back him now, given that there is no new information on what had previously been revealed (to senior executives) in 2014.”

Tim Worner and his wife Katrina. Supplied

Ms Harrison was the executive assistant to the former Seven magazines boss Nick Chan, who now heads up another magazine group, Bauer Media.

It is believed the fact she was Mr Chan’s EA, and not Mr Worner’s, was crucial to his survival.

As one source put it yesterday: “It would have been far worse if she had been a direct report (to Mr Worner) — it would have been instant sacking if she had been his EA.”

Another mitigating factor was that the pair had worked at separate Seven sites. Also, the affair began before Mr Worner was made CEO.