Kamahl Santamaria admits TVNZ colleague complained about him ‘touching in the newsroom’

Supplied

Kamahl Santamaria lasted just 32 days of co-hosting TVNZ’s Breakfast.

Disgraced TV presenter Kamahl Santamaria has admitted – for the first time – that his exit from TVNZ followed a complaint of him touching a colleague in the newsroom.

And, he says, it was his idea for his absence from work to be portrayed as a “family emergency” and that “TVNZ agreed to this”.

Fifteen months ago, Stuff revealed Santamaria quit Breakfast – after just 32 days on air – following at least one female in TVNZ’s newsroom complaining about inappropriate behaviour.

In the year since, neither Santamaria nor TVNZ have addressed specific questions from Stuff about a complaint of him touching a colleague.

But now – in a statement of nearly 4000 words – Santamaria has admitted it.

“I can clarify right now that one complaint was made against me at TVNZ,” Santamaria’s statement said. “This involved an allegation of touching a colleague in the newsroom”.

“And again, for the record, it was never alleged at the time by the complainant to be sexual and/or harassment,” he wrote.

“When the allegation was brought to my attention verbally in a meeting with a senior HR member and the then-Head of News and Current Affairs, I immediately recalled the interaction and made it clear that any touching had been an instinctive action on my part, with no ill-intent”.

Wikipedia

New Zealand journalist Kamahl Santamaria, reporting for Al Jazeera English.

Santamaria, who has been nominated for an Emmy and replaced Kiwi broadcasting icon John Campbell, said he was “not aware of any power imbalance at the time”.

“However, based on what I was being told at that time, I did accept that it had made my colleague feel uncomfortable and I immediately apologised for that,” he said.

“I also completely acknowledge – then and now – that the colleague was absolutely correct to make a complaint if any actions had made them feel uncomfortable”.

His statement then goes on to say “however, there is always a context” and that it “happened in the newsroom environment where expressiveness and tactility were commonplace”.

Santamaria’s statement also says it was his idea for his absence from work to be described as a “family emergency”.

TVNZ’s framing of the scandal disintegrated when Stuff published the real reason.

Numerous other allegations against Santamaria then emerged from his time at Al Jazeera in Doha, including a lewd email to a colleague who resorted to hiding in the toilet to avoid him at work.

RNZ

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

Earlier this month Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier asked TVNZ to explain why it tried to spin the inappropriate workplace behaviour scandal as a “family emergency”.

Boshier cited “significant and prevailing public interest” in the situation and TVNZ has until Tuesday to tell the watchdog whether it intends to accept his recommendation and issue an explanation.

In a specific section about Boshier’s decision, Santamaria’s statement says the “family emergency” portrayal was his idea and the state-owned broadcaster agreed to it.

“I am happy to clear up the ‘family emergency’ issue right now – it was me who made the request,” he said.

“TVNZ had already unilaterally decided to take me off-air and (internally) frame this absence as being due to ‘personal reasons’. I subsequently received numerous messages from colleagues asking about it.

“When asked by TVNZ to give feedback on my continuing on-air absence, I suggested it be described as a ‘family emergency’ because to me and my family, that is exactly what it had become. TVNZ agreed to this”.

Stuff has approached TVNZ for comment.