‘Breakfast Hotties’: TVNZ shrugs off claims from disgraced host Kamahl Santamaria

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Kamahl Santamaria lasted just 32 days on Breakfast.

TVNZ has shrugged off claims from ex-employee Kamahl Santamaria, including the disgraced host alleging discussion of a “Breakfast Hotties” whiteboard to rank the attractiveness of guests.

On Sunday, Santamaria admitted his exit from TVNZ followed a complaint of him touching a colleague in the newsroom.

The admission came 15 months after Stuff published the truth behind the scandal, which saw the Emmy-nominated host last just 32 days on Breakfast – and saw TVNZ originally try to frame the issue as a “family emergency”.

Santamaria’s admission was part of a statement of nearly 4000 words. That statement also included various allegations over what Santamaria described as “the reality of Breakfast culture”.

The disgraced host has claimed during his brief time at TVNZ, he witnessed an editorial meeting where it was suggested there should be a ‘Breakfast Hotties’ whiteboard and that a staff member posted a picture on an internal messaging platform of a guest with the caption “certified breakfast hottie”.

“Expressiveness and tactility were commonplace” in the newsroom, according to Santamaria, with him also claiming he was told in a meeting that TVNZ had a “100% no-touching policy”.

After that meeting, Santamaria said he went to collect his belongings and recalled “a male member of staff was giving a female member of staff a shoulder massage in full view of the newsroom.”

“Breakfast staff would hug and touch each other, some guests would be hugged after they finished their interviews, and in one instance, a co-host touched me on-air during a difficult moment of broadcasting,” he said.

On another occasion, Santamaria alleged producers were “literally rolling around on the floor outside the studio door, laughing loudly and uncontrollably” as he was escorting a guest out of the studio.

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TVNZ said there are “a number of inaccuracies and mischaracterisations” in a statement released by ex-employee Kamahl Sanatamaria on Sunday, which was nearly 4000 words long and admitted touching a then-colleague at work.

In response, TVNZ disputed the portrayals in Santamaria’s lengthy statement – but wouldn’t address his specific allegations directly.

“Kamahl Santamaria worked on Breakfast for a brief period nearly a year and a half ago. Given the time passed we will not be responding to his recollections. We dispute how he has characterised the newsroom,” a TVNZ spokesperson said by email.

Santamaria’s statement also made allegations about the process of his exit from TVNZ.

That includes that “the Head of HR and the then-CEO [Simon Power] never once spoke to me or sought my side of the story” and that the process relating to the complaint against him “was launched, escalated, and decided without ever requesting or obtaining a formal statement from the complainant themselves”.

In response to that, TVNZ rejected the accuracy and portrayals made by Santamaria, but also wouldn’t get into specifics.

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The ex-host resigned from TVNZ’s Breakfast show only a month after starting at the company.

“There are a number of inaccuracies and mischaracterisations in Kamahl Santamaria’s statement, but given this is a confidential employment matter, TVNZ will not be commenting,” the spokesperson said by email.

Neither would TVNZ say whether it now intends to take legal action against Santamaria.

In previous statements, he’s said he’s been unable to address his exit from TVNZ due to “legal reasons” and in releasing Sunday’s statement, Santamaria acknowledged he could now face consequences.

“There may well be ramifications for me, having now divulged what actually happened when I left TVNZ”.