Captioning service ‘leaked’ Seven network newsreader rant about Novak Djokovic

Footage of Mike Amor and Rebecca Maddern blasting Novak Djokovic leaked from a captioning service, senior Seven sources say.

Studio footage of Seven Network newsreaders Mike Amor and Rebecca Maddern slamming tennis star Novak Djokovic leaked from a captioning service, senior Seven sources close to an investigation into the incident say.

Video of the hosts slagging Djokovic before the 6pm evening bulletin went viral on Tuesday night, in what Seven says was a “private conversation”.

The Australian understands an extensive internal investigation is being conducted by Ai-Media – who provide captions for the hard of hearing – to determine the source of the leaked recording, believed to be within its organisation.

In the uncensored recording Maddern and Amor repeatedly called Djokovic an “a***hole”.

“Whatever way you look at it, Novak Djokovic is a lying, sneaky a***hole,” Maddern said.

“That’s it, I mean he’s an arsehole. He got a bulls*** f*****g excuse and then fell over his own f*****g lies. It’s just what happens, right, that’s what happened,” Amor said.

Novak Djokovic at a practice session ahead of the Australian Open. Picture: AFP

Sources have also said Seven are “likely” to report the leak to police. Seven employees were cleared early on in the investigation, with a timestamp – which does not appear on internal Seven video outputs – visible in the footage.

On Wednesday high-level discussions occurred between Seven and Ai-Media, with the network told the culprit will be found.

Staff interviews and thorough IT network tracing has been launched to determine who made the recording, as well as where it was sent, and sources said Ai-Media chief executive Tony Abrahams is leading the investigation.

Seven were hoping the matter would be resolved by Wednesday but it is understood the investigation would be finalised on Thursday.

Seven executives are understood to be furious with the breach, with Director of News and Public Affairs Craig McPherson issuing a blistering statement against the individual or individuals responsible.

“The illegal recording was of a private conversation between two colleagues. It was an underhanded, cowardly act in breach of the Victorian Listening Devices legislation the perpetrator of which will be accordingly dealt with when found,” he said.

Channel 7 managing director Lewis Martin told 3AW Radio: “There has been an illegal recording of a private conversation. It is something that is going to be looked at and is being looked at thoroughly.

“We are going to have an outcome. What has happened here is illegal,” he said.

Captioning is required by legislation on all programs from 6am to midnight, costing television networks “millions of dollars a year”.

Industry sources told The Australian there are also confidentiality clauses in the contracts between the networks, and the captioning provider Ai-Media, which is publicly listed on the ASX, currently enjoys a monopoly.

The Australian made multiple attempts to contact the directors of Ai-Media, including CEO Tony Abrahams, who could not be reached.