Tim Worner: Seven West CEO’s disgruntled former lover reveals details of their affair
SEVEN West Media CEO Tim Worner is embroiled in a sex scandal after his former lover, Amber Harrison, 37, went public with details about their affair.
NSW
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SEVEN West Media chief executive Tim Worner has become embroiled in a sex scandal after his former lover — an employee of Seven — went public with sordid details about their affair.
The television network, owned by Kerry Stokes, confirmed late last night that Mr Worner had apologised for an inappropriate relationship before he took the position of chief executive.
The embarrassing admission came after a former Channel 7 personal assistant Amber Harrison, 37, revealed sexually explicit text messages between her and Mr Worner, along with details of a $100,000 payment that she was given when she left the network.
“I knew he was married. It was never about love. It was about sex and power,” she said of her affair with Mr Worner, which she claims lasted from December 2012 until June 2014.
When The Daily Telegraph first contacted Seven about the documents, the company threatened legal action.
But last night, as news of the affair spread, Seven admitted their chief executive had apologised for the relationship that took place before he was in the top job.
The company’s view is that this is a private matter for Mr Worner and his family to deal with.
Ms Harrison confirmed to The Daily Telegraph she had personally sent the information to several media outlets, choosing to go public after two years of negotiations with Seven broke down in recent weeks.
She said she contacted Seven’s human resources department after her relationship with Mr Worner soured, which she claims caused her to suffer panic attacks and take time off work.
IT WAS NEVER ABOUT LOVE, IT WAS ABOUT SEX AND POWER
She claims Seven countered her complaint by launching an investigation into her corporate credit card use.
Ms Harrison hired a legal firm to fight the media giant, making claims of bullying, victimisation and sexual harassment.
She said her case went to the Human Rights Commission, but the mediation attempts failed.
Ms Harrison worked for former Pacific Magazines boss Nick Chan, who is now the chief executive of Bauer, the publisher of The Australian Women’s Weekly and New Idea among other titles.
Mr Chan is understood to have been made aware of the relationship.
The Daily Telegraph understands Seven chose to pay Ms Harrison $100,000 when she left the network out of sympathy because, they said, she was not well.
Seven denied the investigation into Ms Harrison’s credit card was launched as a result of a complaint to HR and said that it was a random check.
A well-liked senior executive at Seven, Mr Worner is married with four children and lives in Sydney’s northern beaches. Public news of the relationship will be humiliating for the usually private executive.
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