Nine star raised privacy concerns at highest level, former CEO says

One of Nine Entertainment’s on-air stars twice complained to a board member and management about confidential and damaging information about her being given to other media outlets by someone she believed was within the organisation.

Former Nine chief executive Hugh Marks, who led the company from 2015 to 2021, confirmed the presenter spoke to him directly about the leaking in 2018, when she was in the “crosshairs” of damaging gossip column coverage.

Former Nine chief executive Hugh Marks.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“I recall the staff member raising with me their concerns about [someone within] Nine [apparently] leaking confidential information to the press, and I agreed that was not a course of action that should occur,” Marks said.

“It was difficult for [the presenter]. She was very emotional about it. Ratings were bad. Noise just comes out, and it was hard to control.”

Subsequently, when the presenter was engaged in contract negotiations in 2019, she raised her concerns about alleged leaks and delays in those negotiations with another member of the Nine board, Catherine West. West – an independent, non-executive director – is also the chair of the board’s people and remuneration committee.

West is understood to have raised the presenter’s concerns with Marks.

Marks said he then spoke to then-head of news and current affairs Darren Wick and directed him to “sort out” the contract negotiations with the star. The contract was subsequently signed and the presenter did not raise further concerns.

The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age do not suggest that West had any knowledge of Wick’s alleged misconduct towards female staff members, or of broader allegations of a toxic culture within Nine’s television newsrooms.

The Nine board held an emergency meeting on Thursday to discuss the fallout from weeks of negative reporting over alleged prolific sexual harassment by Wick against many women over many years, as well as a toxic workplace culture in its television news division.

The board united behind chief executive Mike Sneesby, who told Nine staff afterwards that an independent review of television news and current affairs would be conducted by Intersection.

Allegations have been made about the behaviour of former Nine executives Darren Wick (left) and Adrian Foo.

He also said a hotline would be set up for staff to report any experiences they have had in relation to sexual harassment or any other inappropriate behaviour at work.

All Nine staff would be asked to take part in a survey about sexual harassment, bullying and inappropriate workplace behaviour, as well as be required to complete additional sexual harassment prevention training.

While Sky News has reported on the interaction between the board member and the staffer, this is the first time the contact has been confirmed by Nine’s senior management at the time.

Wick’s alleged harassment stretched back many years, including during Marks’ tenure as chief executive. Marks, who left the company after it was reported that he was in a relationship with a senior Nine executive, has denied knowing anything about Wick’s alleged behaviour.

Wick left the company following a formal complaint of sexual harassment against him in January this year, by which time current chief executive Mike Sneesby was in charge after taking over in 2021.

Nine, the owner of this masthead, is under siege after weeks of damaging reports about Wick’s behaviour.

Despite the sexual harassment complaint against Wick, Sneesby reportedly signed off on a large payment for the former news boss.

The payment, reported by The Australian to be about $1 million, included his entitlements and was awarded to him on his resignation in March. A spokeswoman for Nine would not confirm this figure when asked.

The January sexual harassment allegation was found to be “unsubstantiated” by lawyers investigating the complaint, and Nine has not responded to questions as to why Wick was asked to leave the company regardless of that finding.

Marks said the chief executive would have responsibility for alerting the board directly if there was a serious employee matter. He said this is what he did when Wick was convicted of high-range drink-driving in 2021.

Sneesby came under further pressure on Tuesday when it was revealed by The Australian Financial Review that Adrian Foo, his long-time head of communications at Nine’s streaming service Stan, left the company after an internal investigation into allegations of bullying and inappropriate physical contact. Sneesby was Stan’s CEO before being appointed as Nine’s chief executive in 2021.

Foo was later invited to attend this year’s Australian Open tennis tournament as a guest of Nine, less than a year after he left Stan.

When contacted for a response, West asked that questions be directed through Nine. Nine did not provide a response for publication.

A company spokeswoman said on Tuesday: “We take all allegations of inappropriate conduct seriously. There is a review in place. We encourage anyone with concerns to come forward.”

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