Little Lord Fondle-roy
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday December 12, 2009
THE performance by morals-crusading radio star Chris Smith at his station 2GB's Christmas party involving not one but three glamorous young women has delivered him a particularly amoral dilemma.Smith led the charge against photographer Bill Henson last year during the controversy over images of nude children. Smith's on-air tirades contributed to authorities shutting Henson's show.The staunchly conservative married father of two and his on-air persona appear to be at odds given his past, which includes a notorious incident in the Channel Nine boardroom a decade ago. Following a boozy lunch, Smith, who was chief-of-staff at A Current Affair at the time, unzipped his fly and "unfurled his member" to several shocked women in the room.On a separate occasion a senior newspaper journalist once had her breasts fondled by Smith while she was talking to a television identity at a corporate event. The following day Smith apologised and sent a large bunch of roses, thwarting official complaint.This week tabloid reports surfaced about the mystery "2GB groper" who had to be put in a cab and sent home from the John Singleton-owned station's party last week at Doltone House in Pyrmont after he made inappropriate advances on a female co-worker.PS can reveal Smith, who went on air the following day but has not been heard on the station since, had approached three women at the party, including glamorous weathergirl Magdalena Roze. None of the women has made an official complaint to management. Roze declined to comment to PS about the incident when approached, as did 2GB executive producer Ian Holland.However Smith's colleague Ray Hadley went on air to tell his listeners that he was not the mystery "groper". "The reputation of this radio station is very important to me and I think the young women that work here need to be treated with respect in every instance," Hadley told PS yesterday.The other women involved are understood to work in 2GB's sales department and newsroom.Smith, who did not respond to PS's repeated calls and emails, has previously admitted to having a problem with alcohol.His friends were reluctant to intervene when his behaviour became out of control last week. As one of them told PS: "He was at that David Hasselhoff-type stage."IT'S ABBOTT TIME WE WENTThe only thing missing from yesterday's chat between 2UE's outgoing talking head Steve Price and the newly installed Liberal leader Tony Abbott was a big, wet on-air kiss. But boy, did it get close. After gushingly thanking Price for helping Abbott "bring about the change", Price fawned: "I just had your shadow treasurer, Joe Hockey, here in the studio; he dropped in with a bottle of champagne. Look, this is not a mutual admiration society today, but I think what you have always done is you have spoken from your heart. So we might not all of us agree with what Tony Abbott has to say - and you certainly have some attitudes that people grapple with - but no one is going to die wondering where you are coming from in the next 12 months when we get to an election, I don't think." Get a room, guys.MATCH-FIT BAKERKarin Upton-Baker is due in court next week to battle the mortgagees who want to evict her and her husband, Gary Baker, from their swanky Elizabeth Bay pied-a-terre over non-repayment of their $18 million mortgage.Gary Baker, a property developer, is making sure he's fighting fit for the encounter and has been spotted regularly around Ruschcutters Bay in recent days on an early morning jog, wearing skimpy shorts and keeping up quite a pace. No sign of the missus, though PS understands it has been business as usual for the couple, one of the most feted on Sydney's cocktailcircuit.STAR SNUBAustralia's first gay and lesbian newspaper, the Sydney Star Observer, celebrated its 1000th issue this week with an interesting line-up of political figures offering their respective good wishes in print. After 30 years the paper has earned its stripes as the gay and lesbian community's key media forum, and while the likes of the politicos Malcolm Turnbull (in his capacity as MP for Wentworth), Peter Garrett, Barry O'Farrell and Clover Moore were only too keen to offer their support by writing letters of congratulation to be published in the paper, the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, was a noticeable no-show. Had he missed the deadline perhaps? No, not quite. The paper told PS that Rudd's office had been contacted "well in advance" of the paper's deadlines but nothing materialised.COVERED IN GLORYThe editor of Vogue Australia, Kirstie Clements was understandably chuffed yesterday to have her magazine selected by Time magazine in New York as one of the world's top 10 best magazine covers for the September issue, which celebrated Vogue Australia's 50th anniversary. A series of fashion illustrations featuring Cate Blanchett on the cover ranked among covers from international heavyweights The New Yorker, W magazine and Interview as the best of 2009.PSssst... A fine bromance has blossomed for Mr Kings Cross, John Ibrahim, courtesy of his ever evolving infamy. Despite the very best efforts of some of his relatives this year, the rehabilitation of Ibrahim's image appears to be going along at a cracking pace thanks to a string of glitzy party pals and an endless supply of headlines, good and bad. Once described in court papers as an "organised crime figure", Ibrahim, shirtless here, has struck up a tight friendship with the handsome young actor Firass Dirani, who plays him in the latest Underbelly series. PS's moles report Dirani has become a regular at many of Ibrahim's haunts, including the notorious Trademark and Piano Room bars in the Cross and Ibrahim's favoured espresso pitstop, Latteria, on Victoria Street, Darlinghurst. Dirani, who has been in everything from Power Rangers: Mystic Forces to Home & Away, has been getting a bit of career advice from Ibrahim, who recommended his publicist to the actor. Ibrahim has been a regular on the Underbelly set during the shoot, which wraps on Tuesday. Producers deny Ibrahim was a paid consultant on the show, however he did give his imprimatur for Dirani.
© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald