Twelve women, NDAs: Nine Entertainment in crisis amid Darren Wick allegations

More than a dozen former and current Nine TV journalists have alleged misconduct by Darren Wick, with multiple non-disclosure agreements signed by staff over interactions they had with the former news boss.

Nine Entertainment boss Mike Sneesby, pictured on Sunday, returned to Sydney as the crisis surrounding Darren Wick, inset, deepens. Main image: Nikki Short

More than a dozen former and current TV journalists from the Nine Network have alleged verbal or physical misconduct by the company’s former long-serving news boss, Darren Wick, as the media giant struggles to limit the reputational damage it has incurred as a result of the shocking harassment revelations.

The deepening of the scandal will be the subject of urgent discussions at Nine’s next board meeting, due in coming days, with several current staff considering making a formal request for the company to conduct an internal investigation into the matter.

The Australian has spoken to more than a dozen current and former Nine staff in recent days, with the journalists anonymously recounting alleged incidents of inappropriate behaviour by Wick, and claiming Nine knowingly failed to provide a safe workplace for them. More than one staff member alleged Wick touched them inappropriately, including one who alleged the ex-news boss put his hand up her skirt after she ­accepted a lift home from him.

Nine CEO Mike Sneesby pictured in Sydney on Sunday. Picture: Nikki Short

Mike Sneesby has returned from overseas to deal with the crisis. Picture: Nikki Short

It’s understood multiple non-disclosure agreements have been signed by female staff at Nine over interactions they had with Wick in recent years.

Nine chief executive Mike Sneesby returned to Sydney on the weekend – cutting short a family holiday to the US to celebrate his 50th birthday – as the gravity of the crisis became ­apparent. A week ago, The Australian first revealed 60-year-old Wick, who left Nine on March 15 citing exhaustion, was the subject of a complaint from a female journalist prior to his departure.

But the scandal quickly worsened over the course of the week, as several former and current Nine female staff spoke anonymously to Sky News Australia, alleging mistreatment at the hands of Wick dating back almost two decades, and accusing the company’s management of allowing a toxic culture to go unchecked in the TV arm of the business.

The board and some senior managers were aware of the alleged “inappropriate behaviour” by Wick but it wasn’t publicly disclosed at the time of his resignation. Instead, he received glowing public tributes from his TV colleagues, and is understood to have walked away from Nine, after a 29-year career, with a golden handshake of close to $1m.

The scandal has also exposed divisions within the company’s seven-person board – chaired by former federal treasurer Peter Costello – with at least two directors understood to be deeply unhappy about how Wick’s departure, and his generous severance package, were handled.

That revelation, and a clumsy attempt on Wednesday by Mr Sneesby, director of television Michael Healy, communications boss Victoria Buchan and human resources chief Vanessa Morley to placate Nine staff over alleged failures of management to identify and act on the problem much earlier, has deepened the crisis.

Nine Entertainment's director of communications and public relations Victoria Buchan.

The widespread perception among staff last week was that management was downplaying the seriousness and consequences of Wick’s alleged conduct, and ignoring a wider cultural problem within the company.

One employee at Thursday’s staff meeting asked whether there was a “cover-up” relating to Wick’s behaviour, and was told here was not. According to senior managers conducting the meeting, the network was duty-bound to protect the confidentiality of any workplace issues brought up by staff.

The issue has come at the worst possible time for Nine, with the company looking to promote its brand in the lead-up to the Paris Olympic Games. Mr Sneesby is also under extreme pressure to arrest the decline in its share price, which has fallen almost 30 per cent in the three years since he took over as CEO.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland on Sunday weighed into the debate over the handling of the Wick matter, saying she hopes Nine adheres to the “appropriate processes” in responding to such allegations.

Ms Rowland added that politics was a profession where “standards need to be lifted as well”, and called for the media to reflect diversity and good standards of behaviour as an “important pillar of our democracy”.

“Well, I would think that all workplaces need to adhere to their policies in relation to how these matters are handled and … the media sector has been highlighted in recent years as an area that needs improvement,” she told Sky News. “And I say that as someone … I work in a profession where standards need to be lifted as well.

“I think that it is incumbent on all institutions, on all companies, including the one in question, to do better, to be transparent in the way that it conducts its investigations, and that we want to see a diverse media and that includes diversity when it comes to public interest journalism.

“We want good people to be entering the sector to be supporting the fourth estate, which is an important pillar of our democracy.”

Mr Sneesby, Mr Costello and Wick did not respond to The Australian on Sunday.