The bandages have been ripped off one of the great festering sores of Australian commercial television after a former key TV executive accused Channel Ten of targeting its former star Ita Buttrose in a hate campaign.
Happier times: Ita Buttrose with her former colleagues on Studio Ten.
The former executive producer of the flailing Studio 10 breakfast show Rob McKnight, who is suing Ten after being dumped from the show in November, has opened up for the first time publicly about the now infamous "Brussels Sprouts" incident on the set of the show.
Speaking on his TV Blackbox podcast which went live on Monday night, McKnight said the incident was nothing more than an "assault".
Former Studio Ten executive producer Robert McKnight with Ita Buttrose
Last year Buttrose and fellow panellist Denise Drysdale made headlines after Drysdale hurled Brussels Sprouts at Buttrose during the filming of a Christmas special.
The incident came up again last week amid reports that Drysdale was leaving the show, with the veteran television personality admitting she was taking a five month break, only to be presented with a cake made of Brussels Sprouts live on air by co-star Jonathan Coleman, who mistakenly called Drysdale "Ita".
Fellow panellist Sarah Harris then commented on how expensive Brussels Sprouts were, telling Dyrsdale: "You wouldn't want to throw them would you?"
The most recent Studio 10 line-up (from left): Angela Bishop, Denise Drysdale, Joe Hildebrand, Denise Scott and Sarah Harris.
A laughing Drysdale responded: " I don't know, if the right time came up I'd give them a hurl."
But McKnight was certainly not laughing, saying the Brussels Sprouts incident was one of the factors in his departure from the show and that he was now suing Ten, claiming they owe him 13 weeks' pay. The matter goes to court in November.
"There is something about all this that has really upset me. I know the Brussels Sprouts incident is a joke to everyone … Ita Buttose was assaulted at that shoot. It wasn't a Christmas party, it was a shoot, we were in a professional situation recording a Christmas video clip," McKnight says on the podcast.
"Denise has admitted she was drinking. I think the amount will come out in the court case and to make light of this situation … Ita is horrified by this. She is embarrassed by it. She is a victim here and she has become the butt of jokes.
"What did Ita Buttrose ever do to deserve this amount of hatred from Studio 10 and this lack of respect? I really don't understand it. Jessica Rowe was given a three and a half hour bon voyage by Studio Ten, and Ita was given a 'don't let the door hit your arse on the way out'.
"The whole show was built around Ita Buttrose. She was the face of it … how Ten and the people at Studio 10 have treated her I can't reconcile in my head. She doesn't deserve this."
On Tuesday morning McKnight told Fairfax Media he "stood by everything I said on the podcast".
Comment is being sought from Channel Ten.
Source: Read Full Article