Latest / Outspoken the Podcast / Inside Sam Wood’s Shocking DV Arrest
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Before we get into today's episode, we want to issue
- 0:02Speaker 1: a trigger warning. We discuss domestic violence. Hello and welcome
- 0:10Speaker 1: to Outspoken. It's your dose of the hottest influencer and
- 0:13Speaker 1: pop culture news twice a week. I'm Kate Torber. I'm
- 0:17Speaker 1: Amy Torber. And I'm Sophie Torber. And coming up on
- 0:20Speaker 1: today's show... A dispute between the owners of loungewear brand
- 0:24Speaker 1: Allure has blown up on TikTok. But first, the country
- 0:27Speaker 1: has been left stunned after former Bachelor star Sam Wood
- 0:31Speaker 1: was charged with domestic violence offences against his wife, Snezyana Wood.
- 0:36Speaker 1: The father-of-four was denied bail on Thursday after police allege
- 0:40Speaker 1: he strangled his wife until she thought she was going
- 0:43Speaker 1: to die. Now, so this story is absolutely horrific. Can
- 0:47Speaker 1: you take us back to the public holiday weekend and
- 0:50Speaker 1: how this unfolded? Yeah, so Sam Snez and their four
- 0:53Speaker 1: daughters were holidaying in Noosa when the alleged incident took place.
- 0:57Speaker 1: They were staying at a luxury apartment on the beachfront
- 1:00Speaker 1: on Hastings Street, so a very popular area. Police were
- 1:04Speaker 1: called to the property on Saturday night amid reports of
- 1:06Speaker 1: domestic violence. Sam was arrested and charged with the domestic
- 1:10Speaker 1: offence of assault, occasioning bodily harm and strangulation in a
- 1:14Speaker 1: domestic setting. He was refused bail. At this point, Snez
- 1:19Speaker 1: had not been identified as the victim. That didn't stop
- 1:23Speaker 1: a lot of people speculating online. Now, almost instantly, Sam
- 1:27Speaker 1: and Snez, who have a combined following of more than
- 1:30Speaker 1: half a million people on Instagram... disabled comments on their accounts. Then,
- 1:35Speaker 1: first thing Monday morning, both Sam and Snez released identical
- 1:39Speaker 1: statements on their Instagram stories, which read, Statement from the
- 1:42Speaker 1: Wood family. This is a difficult time for all of us.
- 1:45Speaker 1: We are working through this as a family and are
- 1:48Speaker 1: thoroughly cooperating with the authorities. Now, what is really interesting
- 1:52Speaker 1: is this statement was also shared on Sam's business account
- 1:55Speaker 1: 28 by Sam Wood. Well, not long after that post,
- 1:59Speaker 1: Sam was actually stood down from his fitness empire. The
- 2:03Speaker 1: 28 Group CEO, Mark Watkins, released a statement on Monday
- 2:06Speaker 1: confirming Sam Wood had been placed on indefinite leave from
- 2:10Speaker 1: his duties. The statement read, we have all been shocked
- 2:13Speaker 1: and saddened by the matters involving Sam Wood and have
- 2:16Speaker 1: zero tolerance for domestic violence. While the matter is under
- 2:19Speaker 1: investigation and before the court's This had to be.
- 2:30Speaker 2: Done.
- 2:31Speaker 1: And I liked how swiftly this decision was made. They
- 2:33Speaker 1: really had no other option, particularly after such serious charges
- 2:37Speaker 1: were laid against Sam. It's quite interesting for those who
- 2:40Speaker 1: aren't aware, back in 2022, it was reported that Sam
- 2:43Speaker 1: sold his business for a whopping $ 71 million to a
- 2:47Speaker 1: Melbourne company called MyDNA. Now, Sam kept a 5% stake
- 2:51Speaker 1: in the company and has remained the face of the
- 2:53Speaker 1: brand up until this incident. He was very deeply involved
- 2:57Speaker 1: across his social media channels and he was the reason
- 3:00Speaker 1: why people wanted to stick with the fitness program since
- 3:03Speaker 1: he sold the brand. The situation between Sam Wood and
- 3:06Speaker 1: his fitness company is very similar to the one that
- 3:09Speaker 1: Kayla had seen us had back a couple of years
- 3:11Speaker 1: ago when she sold her company. So she stayed on
- 3:14Speaker 1: as the face of the brand. And it would be
- 3:16Speaker 1: interesting to know if Sam had similar contractual obligations like
- 3:20Speaker 1: Kayla did because she went on to eventually buy her
- 3:22Speaker 1: brand back. But a part of the contract was that
- 3:24Speaker 1: she had to stay the face of the brand. I
- 3:26Speaker 1: wonder what this means for his payout because you would
- 3:28Speaker 1: assume that it was paid in installments. Well, on Tuesday,
- 3:31Speaker 1: the 28 group had to release a secondary statement saying,
- 3:34Speaker 1: confirming that they had ended all commercial arrangements with Sam Wood.
- 3:38Speaker 1: I would hazard a guess that that may have something
- 3:40Speaker 1: to do with this disturbing clip that has resurfaced of
- 3:43Speaker 1: Sam Wood. Now, the video was posted to Sam's fitness
- 3:46Speaker 1: page in 2025, and in it, he spoke about the
- 3:49Speaker 1: rules he sticks to when he's trying to avoid snacking.
- 3:53Speaker 1: He then said this.
- 3:54Speaker 3: I talk to.
- 3:55Speaker 4: Snares and we support each other.
- 3:57Speaker 1: I get her to hide all the stuff that I
- 3:58Speaker 1: like from me, and then even if.
- 4:00Speaker 4: I'm strangling her to death, she will not give it up.
- 4:04Speaker 1: This is absolutely chilling to listen to. And I don't
- 4:07Speaker 1: understand how this was ever posted to his fitness page.
- 4:11Speaker 1: I don't understand where the joking element is. How is
- 4:13Speaker 1: this something that just rolls off the tongue to you?
- 4:16Speaker 1: I'm surprised it wasn't called out previously. Now, on Thursday,
- 4:19Speaker 1: Sam appeared via video link at the Maroochydore Magistrates Court.
- 4:23Speaker 1: During this hearing, it was revealed that the alleged victim
- 4:26Speaker 1: is in fact his wife, Snezhana Wood. Now, the court
- 4:29Speaker 1: heard that the incident allegedly took place after Sam and
- 4:32Speaker 1: Snez returned home from dinner. Police alleged that Sam became
- 4:36Speaker 1: involved in a family argument with Snez and their adult
- 4:39Speaker 1: daughter Eve over whether they should go to bed or
- 4:42Speaker 1: park ahead of their departure the following morning before he
- 4:46Speaker 1: allegedly assaulted and strangled Snez. The court heard that Sam
- 4:49Speaker 1: allegedly pushed Snez with one hand into a wall and
- 4:53Speaker 1: then to the ground before grabbing her around the neck,
- 4:56Speaker 1: gripping tight and restricting her airways. The court also heard
- 5:00Speaker 1: that Snez told police that she thought she was going
- 5:02Speaker 1: to die. Police also alleged that Sam banged Snez's head
- 5:06Speaker 1: on the ground multiple times and that she could not breathe.
- 5:10Speaker 1: The police prosecutor also told the court that the triple
- 5:12Speaker 1: zero call was made by Sam's stepdaughter Eve and they
- 5:16Speaker 1: also presented photographs of Snez's alleged injuries. The prosecutor also
- 5:20Speaker 1: said that Snez was supportive of the charges proceeding. Now
- 5:24Speaker 1: Sam's lawyer said his client denied the allegations. and may
- 5:28Speaker 1: be entitled to a self-defense argument. He also argued that
- 5:32Speaker 1: Sam should be given bail because he's suffering from severe
- 5:35Speaker 1: depression and needed the support of mental health professionals. Interestingly,
- 5:39Speaker 1: he also stated that he needed the opportunity to salvage
- 5:42Speaker 1: his professional reputation and career, which has, quote, taken a
- 5:46Speaker 1: hell of a beating at the moment. What a disgusting
- 5:49Speaker 1: choice of words from a lawyer who is defending a
- 5:51Speaker 1: client in a domestic violence matter. The mind absolutely boggles. Well,
- 5:55Speaker 1: he also told the court, ultimately, as all families have,
- 5:58Speaker 1: there were problems. And my client had been enduring the
- 6:01Speaker 1: hardship of attempting to quarantine those problems from his family
- 6:04Speaker 1: for some period of time. It was agonizing. Now, Cus
- 6:08Speaker 1: Kelly also cited that Sam had no prior criminal history.
- 6:12Speaker 1: And if granted bail, he would reside in Victoria with
- 6:14Speaker 1: his father, Andrew Wood. Now, he attended this court hearing.
- 6:18Speaker 1: He got absolutely hounded by reporters. Now, while Sam Wood
- 6:21Speaker 1: doesn't have a previous criminal record, the court heard that
- 6:25Speaker 1: police actually attended the Wood family home in Victoria over
- 6:28Speaker 1: a similar allegation about three years ago. Now, police prosecutors
- 6:32Speaker 1: allege that SNES did not make any criminal complaints on
- 6:35Speaker 1: that occasion out of fear of retribution. Sam denied that
- 6:40Speaker 1: any previous incident had taken place, That is despite the
- 6:43Speaker 1: fact that prosecutors argued that there was body worn camera
- 6:46Speaker 1: footage of police attending his home and a police report
- 6:50Speaker 1: in relation to that incident. The prosecutors also alleged that
- 6:54Speaker 1: during Sam's police interview, he minimized his part in the
- 6:58Speaker 1: alleged offending and minimized the injuries suffered by his wife.
- 7:02Speaker 1: saying he essentially victim blamed. Now, the acting magistrate said
- 7:05Speaker 1: the strength of evidence against Sam was relatively strong and
- 7:09Speaker 1: it was likely the charges, if proven, would attract a
- 7:12Speaker 1: term in prison. Sam was denied bail and on Thursday night,
- 7:16Speaker 1: he was transferred to the Brisbane Correctional Centre. He's due
- 7:20Speaker 1: to face court again on November 23rd. It's going to
- 7:22Speaker 1: be a huge day for the media. Now, the reality
- 7:25Speaker 1: is what allegedly took place in the Woods Noosa holiday
- 7:28Speaker 1: rental is unfortunately incredibly common. one in four Australian women
- 7:33Speaker 1: have experienced physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner,
- 7:36Speaker 1: while on average, one woman is killed by an intimate
- 7:39Speaker 1: partner every 11 days in Australia. These statistics aren't new.
- 7:43Speaker 1: They're reported in the media all the time. But what
- 7:46Speaker 1: is new, though, is the reaction to what really is
- 7:49Speaker 1: sadly just another common domestic violence case. Obviously, celebrity plays
- 7:53Speaker 1: a big part, but I think the reaction has been
- 7:55Speaker 1: so extraordinary because of what Sam and Snez used to
- 7:58Speaker 1: represent in Australia. Well, they were essentially couple goals and
- 8:02Speaker 1: we've really had a front row seat to what looked
- 8:04Speaker 1: like a fairytale romance. It's really interesting when you consider
- 8:08Speaker 1: that Sam and Snez's series of The Bachelor actually aired
- 8:11Speaker 1: off the back of Blake Garvey's series. Now, this was
- 8:14Speaker 1: when the franchise was at the peak of its popularity.
- 8:17Speaker 1: And if you cast your mind back, Blake broke Sam
- 8:20Speaker 1: Frost's heart. So he picked her. He then reneged on
- 8:23Speaker 1: the whole thing and then hooked up with Louise. So
- 8:25Speaker 1: the show really needed a love story and they seemingly
- 8:28Speaker 1: got a very genuine one. And Sam was really cast
- 8:32Speaker 1: at this white night. So their whole love story centered
- 8:35Speaker 1: around him sweeping this single mom off her feet. And
- 8:39Speaker 1: a big part of the story was the fact that
- 8:41Speaker 1: he embraced Snezz's then nine-year-old daughter Eve as his own.
- 8:45Speaker 1: So much so that Eve actually went on and changed
- 8:47Speaker 1: her last name to include Wood in it. I have
- 8:50Speaker 1: not been able to get this story out of my head.
- 8:52Speaker 1: It is absolutely just harrowing what has been alleged. And
- 8:56Speaker 1: I think one of the reasons why is because for
- 8:58Speaker 1: 11 years, you have this picture of who Sam Wood
- 9:02Speaker 1: is in your head. And that has been completely tarnished.
- 9:06Speaker 1: I think Instagram also plays into it. You always see
- 9:09Speaker 1: people's picture perfect lives online. And I think this has
- 9:11Speaker 1: led a lot of people to question, well, is everything
- 9:14Speaker 1: as it seems? We've literally watched a real life fairy
- 9:16Speaker 1: tale crumble in front of us. And I think what
- 9:19Speaker 1: makes this story even more shocking is the fact that
- 9:22Speaker 1: Snez is the alleged victim. So the couple's relationship has
- 9:26Speaker 1: always been such a massive part of Sam's public image.
- 9:30Speaker 1: And his public image has gone far beyond The Bachelor.
- 9:33Speaker 1: As you said, Sophie, he had this incredibly successful fitness
- 9:36Speaker 1: brand and he really positioned himself as a relatable dad
- 9:40Speaker 1: and a devoted husband online. Well, they went on to
- 9:42Speaker 1: have three other daughters as well. This is what also
- 9:45Speaker 1: makes this story so incredibly sad. And it's not like
- 9:48Speaker 1: this family was one of those influencer families that's constantly
- 9:52Speaker 1: attracting negative headlines. You know, they were very picture perfect.
- 9:55Speaker 1: That's why these allegations are so jarring because you've got
- 9:58Speaker 1: this person that we all thought was this devoted husband
- 10:00Speaker 1: and father and he's now being accused of seriously harming
- 10:04Speaker 1: SNES in front of his children. I think what also
- 10:06Speaker 1: added to this idea that this was a fairytale relationship
- 10:09Speaker 1: was the fact that Sam had that $ 70 million deal
- 10:12Speaker 1: as well. It really glamorised this couple and also kept
- 10:15Speaker 1: them in the headlines. I saw a really interesting post
- 10:17Speaker 1: by a creator called P.E. Dung and she summed up
- 10:20Speaker 1: why we're really feeling this collective shock about this news.
- 10:23Speaker 1: She wrote, the most dangerous thing about domestic violence is
- 10:26Speaker 1: that we keep looking for monsters. We imagine an abuser
- 10:29Speaker 1: has to look like an abuser. He can also be charming, successful, funny, attractive,
- 10:34Speaker 1: a loving dad, well-liked, and a known family man. She
- 10:37Speaker 1: summarized that so perfectly because what's been playing on my
- 10:39Speaker 1: mind is just how perfectly this case plays into this
- 10:43Speaker 1: whole nice guy trope that we're used to hearing every time.
- 10:47Speaker 1: something like this happens. So we hear it so many times.
- 10:49Speaker 1: He's such a nice guy. He'd never do that. And
- 10:51Speaker 1: it's really become commonplace for when a man is accused
- 10:54Speaker 1: of domestic violence, that the conversation quickly becomes about how
- 10:58Speaker 1: seemingly good he is and how could he possibly have
- 11:00Speaker 1: done something like this? And it's interesting that as a society,
- 11:04Speaker 1: we treat a man's public reputation as evidence of how
- 11:07Speaker 1: he behaves behind closed doors. Author and social commentator, Kate Forster,
- 11:12Speaker 1: summed this up really well.
- 11:14Speaker 3: Sam Wood built a brand based on health, family, wholesome
- 11:19Speaker 3: Aussie bloke, family guy, and that's what a lot of
- 11:24Speaker 3: influencers sell, not just a fitness program, right? The feeling
- 11:29Speaker 3: that you know them, that parasocial, we're rooting for you, Sam,
- 11:33Speaker 3: you know, and that's the version that they choose to
- 11:37Speaker 3: show you. But a very curated Instagram or public image,
- 11:44Speaker 3: is not an evidence of character in any form. Why
- 11:48Speaker 3: are we talking about how much he's going to lose
- 11:51Speaker 3: and not talking about how much she has endured when
- 11:54Speaker 3: there is allegedly another incident similar that happened in Victoria?
- 12:00Speaker 1: Kate Forster is, of course, going back to Sam's lawyer's
- 12:03Speaker 1: original claims that Sam needs the opportunity to salvage his
- 12:06Speaker 1: professional reputation and career, which I agree with Kate, is
- 12:10Speaker 1: such a strange thing to be arguing in this situation.
- 12:12Speaker 1: I think what makes this story particularly heartbreaking is Eve's involvement,
- 12:16Speaker 1: particularly because she's only recently spoken about her strained relationship
- 12:20Speaker 1: with her biological father, who she says she's been estranged
- 12:23Speaker 1: from for eight years. So she recalled that one of
- 12:26Speaker 1: the most hurtful things he said about her was that
- 12:28Speaker 1: she didn't deserve the life she was living. And again,
- 12:31Speaker 1: I think you touched on it, Amy. I think this
- 12:33Speaker 1: glamorous life really does play into why this has suddenly
- 12:36Speaker 1: become so shocking because, again, it is a part of
- 12:40Speaker 1: the fairy tale. I feel for Eve because there have
- 12:42Speaker 1: been so many rumours circulating about her involvement in this
- 12:46Speaker 1: case On TikTok especially. It seems like everyone on TikTok
- 12:49Speaker 1: has forgotten there are specific legal requirements for what you
- 12:52Speaker 1: can and can't say. There's a lot of baseless information
- 12:54Speaker 1: being said. That's just TikTok though. What concerns me is
- 12:58Speaker 1: having any of that type of information impacting the trial. Yeah.
- 13:02Speaker 1: Going back to Eve and the relationship that she has
- 13:05Speaker 1: with her biological father, when this story broke, I instantly
- 13:09Speaker 1: thought about him and how he would feel Because on
- 13:11Speaker 1: Sam's series of The Bachelor, he wasn't painted in a
- 13:14Speaker 1: flattering light at all. The show really portrayed Jason as
- 13:16Speaker 1: this absent father, which led to Perth Now publishing an
- 13:20Speaker 1: article about his criminal history. So he has served two
- 13:23Speaker 1: prison sentences for drug-related crimes, with one including possession of
- 13:28Speaker 1: a firearm. And it's quite a sad story because he
- 13:30Speaker 1: later told the media that a dirt bike accident in
- 13:34Speaker 1: 2005 left him a paraplegic and contributed to his struggles
- 13:38Speaker 1: with addiction. What's interesting is Jason is back in the
- 13:41Speaker 1: story arc. So the Daily Mail contacted him and he
- 13:44Speaker 1: confirmed that he has spoken to his daughter Eve on
- 13:46Speaker 1: the phone after the incident and he confirmed that Snez
- 13:49Speaker 1: was doing fine. One positive to come out of this
- 13:52Speaker 1: horrific alleged incident is how seriously the public is taking
- 13:57Speaker 1: this situation. In the past, we've seen the public make
- 14:00Speaker 1: excuses for high profile men, particularly AFL players who are
- 14:03Speaker 1: accused of domestic violence. And in this situation, We are
- 14:07Speaker 1: seeing such a hard stance taken against Sam Wood. And
- 14:10Speaker 1: a post by activist Harrison James has gone viral where
- 14:13Speaker 1: he's pointed out the severity of a strangulation charge. So
- 14:16Speaker 1: he wrote, men, when you read that a woman was strangled,
- 14:19Speaker 1: understand what you're actually reading. A man put his hands
- 14:22Speaker 1: around her neck and did something that could have killed her.
- 14:25Speaker 1: Our language tends to make male violence sound a hell
- 14:28Speaker 1: of a lot less terrifying than it actually is. So
- 14:31Speaker 1: we can create distance between ourselves and the horror of violence.
- 14:34Speaker 1: We call it strangulation, but read the reality behind the
- 14:38Speaker 1: word attempted murder. Don't let a clinical word sanitise the
- 14:42Speaker 1: brutality of what happened.
- 14:44Speaker 5: Make sure you're proud of it because I'll fucking share it.
- 14:48Speaker 5: You want to be a weak dog? You wouldn't say
- 14:50Speaker 5: that to my face because I would drag your ass
- 14:53Speaker 5: through the car park.
- 14:55Speaker 1: A business dispute between the co-owners of Australian loungewear brand
- 14:58Speaker 1: Allure has been blowing up on TikTok. If you thought
- 15:02Speaker 1: Cookie Gate was wild, this is next level. Now, before
- 15:05Speaker 1: we get into the drama, can you bring listeners up
- 15:07Speaker 1: to speed, Kate, with the main players?
- 15:09Speaker 2: All right.
- 15:10Speaker 1: So you've got the co-owners, Ebony McLeese and Olivia O'Neill,
- 15:14Speaker 1: who before this drama were best friends. Both of these
- 15:17Speaker 1: women have micro followings on social media, while the brand
- 15:20Speaker 1: itself has 173,000 followers on TikTok and 47,000 on Instagram. Now,
- 15:27Speaker 1: the women founded the loungewear brand in 2021 when they
- 15:31Speaker 1: were in their mid-20s. And by 2023, it was reportedly
- 15:35Speaker 1: worth seven figures. Now, since then, Ebony and Olivia have
- 15:39Speaker 1: worked full-time in the business alongside their one and only
- 15:42Speaker 1: staff member, Mariah Bellott. Now, crucial to the story is
- 15:46Speaker 1: the fact that Mariah's older brother, Harley... dates Olivia. Now
- 15:50Speaker 1: that we are all up to speed Kate let's jump
- 15:52Speaker 1: into the drama. So Ebony and Olivia have had a
- 15:55Speaker 1: public falling out of epic proportion. It all started a
- 15:59Speaker 1: few weeks ago when Olivia publicly called Ebony out on
- 16:02Speaker 1: social media. Now sadly for us Olivia chose to voice
- 16:06Speaker 1: her upset on her Instagram story which has now disappeared
- 16:09Speaker 1: but snippets of those videos have been popping up online
- 16:13Speaker 1: The crux of it is that Olivia claims her business
- 16:15Speaker 1: was stolen from her and that she was kicked out
- 16:18Speaker 1: of the home she shared with Ebony. Here's a snippet
- 16:21Speaker 1: of what she said.
- 16:23Speaker 6: Lost a friendship with the two of them.
- 16:25Speaker 3: Away in hell.
- 16:26Speaker 1: I will ever, ever reach out to you again.
- 16:29Speaker 4: You could have.
- 16:30Speaker 6: Had your whole family shot dead.
- 16:32Speaker 4: I'd be like, well, karma got you good.
- 16:34Speaker 6: Karma's going to come around and I know where I'm
- 16:36Speaker 6: headed and that's all the way to the top.
- 16:37Speaker 4: I'll be looking down.
- 16:38Speaker 5: And spitting on them.
- 16:41Speaker 1: God, that is incredibly uncomfortable to listen to. And I
- 16:43Speaker 1: don't understand what would have gone through her head to
- 16:45Speaker 1: put that online. Well, she also acknowledged the issue on
- 16:48Speaker 1: her TikTok. So she uploaded a photo of herself in
- 16:51Speaker 1: the Allure warehouse with the caption, there's two bitches I
- 16:54Speaker 1: want to sit down with and ask them who the
- 16:56Speaker 1: fuck they think they are. For real though, where is
- 16:58Speaker 1: live from Allure? No longer the business, but certainly not
- 17:01Speaker 1: by choice. Now on Monday, Ebony entered the chat and
- 17:05Speaker 1: made some pretty outrageous accusations against Olivia. From the get-go,
- 17:09Speaker 1: I want to be clear that these are allegations at
- 17:11Speaker 1: this point. They are yet to be proven. In saying that,
- 17:14Speaker 1: Ebony backed up her commentary with a bunch of receipts.
- 17:18Speaker 1: So there were a lot of screenshots of text messages, emails,
- 17:21Speaker 1: and documents. But again, the validity of those receipts haven't
- 17:24Speaker 1: been proven. Now that we've got that out of the way...
- 17:27Speaker 1: Ebony said that after three weeks of online slander from Olivia,
- 17:31Speaker 1: it was time for her to share her side of
- 17:33Speaker 1: the story. Get the popcorn ready. Oh, my God. Now,
- 17:36Speaker 1: she first debunked Olivia's claim that she kicked her out
- 17:38Speaker 1: of her house. So Ebony explained that after a series
- 17:41Speaker 1: of incidents, living together was no longer tenable. Now, Ebony
- 17:45Speaker 1: claims that she said to Olivia, look, I'll move out.
- 17:47Speaker 1: But Olivia said, no, I want to go. In terms
- 17:50Speaker 1: of those incidents, Ebony didn't skimp on the details. So
- 17:55Speaker 1: she claims that Olivia completely changed as a person as
- 17:58Speaker 1: soon as they moved in together and she claimed that
- 18:00Speaker 1: Olivia was drinking and using substances every night and was
- 18:04Speaker 1: unhappy that she didn't want to join in. She then
- 18:07Speaker 1: said this.
- 18:07Speaker 2: I'm sure there's been times in everyone's lives where we've
- 18:11Speaker 2: dealt with people with mental health issues and substance abuse.
- 18:14Speaker 2: It can be very hard to navigate and I definitely
- 18:16Speaker 2: never thought that this is the path that our friendship
- 18:19Speaker 2: would be going down or that any of these events
- 18:22Speaker 2: would have happened.
- 18:24Speaker 1: Now, things escalated one night after dinner when Ebony alleges
- 18:28Speaker 1: that Olivia and her boyfriend Harley engaged in loud sexual
- 18:32Speaker 1: activity in the lounge room. Ebony then recounted what allegedly
- 18:36Speaker 1: happened moments after the couple finished. I feel like that's
- 18:39Speaker 1: a bad use of words there, Kate. Let's take a listen.
- 18:44Speaker 2: After dinner was all finished, it was about 8.30pm. I
- 18:47Speaker 2: said I'm going to go to my room and put
- 18:49Speaker 2: some clothes away. Once we went into the room, we
- 18:51Speaker 2: were sitting in there. A few minutes later, there was
- 18:53Speaker 2: really loud noises coming from the lounge room. Intimate acts happening.
- 18:58Speaker 2: I was kind of like, what the hell is happening?
- 19:00Speaker 2: This can't be real. Olivia came into the room, tried
- 19:02Speaker 2: to show the tape that had just been filmed. We
- 19:05Speaker 2: didn't want to see. Showed pictures of her partner's penis
- 19:08Speaker 2: to the guy that was over as well. That continued
- 19:11Speaker 2: on throughout the night. I did say I felt very
- 19:14Speaker 2: uncomfortable and I asked if you could just go to
- 19:17Speaker 2: bed because I was going to sleep, to which I
- 19:20Speaker 2: got told I was boring.
- 19:22Speaker 1: Kate, you've been selling me this story all week. You're
- 19:24Speaker 1: saying it was a bit like Cookie Gate. This is outrageous.
- 19:27Speaker 1: Like Cookie Gate is so wholesome compared to this tale.
- 19:29Speaker 1: This is X-rated Cookie Gate, isn't it? I mean, it's
- 19:33Speaker 1: just as petty as Cookie Gate, it seems. Well, hold on.
- 19:36Speaker 1: It gets worse. So Ebony then went on to claim
- 19:39Speaker 1: that the following morning, Olivia called her into her bedroom
- 19:42Speaker 1: on the pretense of showing her something on her phone.
- 19:44Speaker 1: I mean, she's like no more yeah surely alarm bells
- 19:46Speaker 1: would have been ringing at that point and Ebony claims
- 19:49Speaker 1: that the couple then started making out in front of
- 19:51Speaker 1: her in bed and she claimed that Olivia was touching
- 19:54Speaker 1: her partner intimately under the covers and she said it
- 19:57Speaker 1: made her feel really uncomfortable so she went downstairs then
- 20:01Speaker 1: Olivia and Ebony went to the gym and then went
- 20:03Speaker 1: to their office And Ebony alleges that when they were
- 20:06Speaker 1: at the office, Olivia tried to show their employee, Maria,
- 20:10Speaker 1: the photos and videos from the night before. Wait, is
- 20:13Speaker 1: that the sister? Yeah, so as I said at the start,
- 20:15Speaker 1: Maria's brother is dating Olivia. So clearly in any work setting,
- 20:20Speaker 1: this would have been completely inappropriate. But when you add
- 20:22Speaker 1: the fact that Maria is also the sister of the
- 20:24Speaker 1: guy in the video... It just is completely wild. I
- 20:28Speaker 1: would have loved to have been a fly on the
- 20:29Speaker 1: wall when this took place. Well, I don't think you
- 20:31Speaker 1: would have when you hear the next thing. So then
- 20:33Speaker 1: Ebony also claims that Olivia came to work with a
- 20:35Speaker 1: sex toy inserted inside herself, which she allegedly tried to
- 20:39Speaker 1: show to Maria. What is Maria saying in this situation?
- 20:43Speaker 1: Because I don't actually have a brother, but I have
- 20:45Speaker 1: two cousins who are like my brother. And If one
- 20:47Speaker 1: of their partners tried to show me any of this content,
- 20:49Speaker 1: I think I'd vomit everywhere. Or said that they had
- 20:51Speaker 1: a sex toy inserted up herself from the brother. It
- 20:54Speaker 1: would absolutely fail. I would leave. I would quit this job. Well,
- 20:57Speaker 1: that's actually what happened. But we'll go into that a
- 21:00Speaker 1: little bit later because according to Ebony, this behaviour was
- 21:03Speaker 1: the tip of the iceberg of Olivia's inappropriate work behaviour.
- 21:07Speaker 1: That was the tip of the iceberg. I'm actually concerned
- 21:09Speaker 1: what is about to come out of your mouth, Kate. Well,
- 21:11Speaker 1: strap in for this. So apparently a lot of shit
- 21:14Speaker 1: went down at a work conference and So Ebony alleges
- 21:17Speaker 1: that Olivia pinched a married man on the bum and
- 21:21Speaker 1: also vaped in the conference room. Can you imagine just
- 21:25Speaker 1: being at this business conference and being like, what the
- 21:27Speaker 1: fuck is going on? Where's the HR person here? Yeah.
- 21:29Speaker 1: Then the following morning, so they'd had conference night one,
- 21:33Speaker 1: the following morning Olivia was overheard allegedly telling other business
- 21:37Speaker 1: owners that she'd driven home intoxicated. Apparently she said she
- 21:40Speaker 1: could barely see out of her eyes. Why can I
- 21:42Speaker 1: imagine her being really obnoxious and just blowing vape smoke
- 21:46Speaker 1: in everyone's faces? Anyway, so yeah, she was telling people
- 21:49Speaker 1: about how she partied all night and then she started
- 21:51Speaker 1: again oversharing intimate details about her and her partner. This
- 21:54Speaker 1: was again in front of the staff member, Mariah. Now,
- 21:57Speaker 1: according to Ebony, she tried to hold a mediation with
- 22:00Speaker 1: Olivia after this string of misdemeanors, but nothing changed. String
- 22:04Speaker 1: of misdemeanors, sorry. It was only when Mariah resigned due
- 22:08Speaker 1: to these ongoing issues with Olivia that the company shareholders
- 22:11Speaker 1: got involved and it was decided that the business could
- 22:14Speaker 1: no longer operate with Olivia at the helm. And Ebony claims...
- 22:18Speaker 1: Olivia was given the opportunity to negotiate a payout, which
- 22:21Speaker 1: included a percentage of shares and a money offer. I
- 22:24Speaker 1: would argue that coming to work with a butt plug-in
- 22:26Speaker 1: that was inserted by one of the employee's brothers was
- 22:30Speaker 1: probably the worst on the list.
- 22:31Speaker 2: Oh, yes.
- 22:32Speaker 1: Do you know what's funny? I just thought about how, like,
- 22:34Speaker 1: what a strange scenario, but then I remembered that Sophie's
- 22:37Speaker 1: husband used to work with me and I'm like... Where
- 22:39Speaker 1: are you going with this story? Well, I'm just saying, like,
- 22:41Speaker 1: can you imagine if the... Yeah, if Brandon came in
- 22:44Speaker 1: and was like... I did this with you. Do you
- 22:46Speaker 1: want to see a video of your sister? You'd be like,
- 22:47Speaker 1: oh my God, fuck off. I'm going to call the police.
- 22:49Speaker 1: Can I confirm that none of that has taken place
- 22:52Speaker 1: at all? The thing that I want to know about is,
- 22:54Speaker 1: I mean, obviously this is a very awkward work encounter,
- 22:57Speaker 1: but what's happening behind closed doors with the family? Like,
- 22:59Speaker 1: can you imagine if this happened and having to go
- 23:01Speaker 1: and tell your parents like why you've suddenly quit this business? Sophie,
- 23:04Speaker 1: it gets so much worse and we will talk about
- 23:06Speaker 1: the family dynamic later on. But what I want to
- 23:09Speaker 1: talk to you now about is the financial state of
- 23:12Speaker 1: a law. So what I found particularly interesting is that
- 23:15Speaker 1: Ebony went on to divulge that a law is not
- 23:17Speaker 1: as successful as it makes out online. The business is
- 23:21Speaker 1: actually $ 250, 000 in debt and has been struggling from some time.
- 23:25Speaker 1: I can't at all see why. I was going to say,
- 23:28Speaker 1: I feel like now after hearing what's been going on
- 23:30Speaker 1: behind the scenes, that kind of makes a lot of sense.
- 23:32Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 23:33Speaker 1: And this fact makes Ebony's next allegation even worse. So
- 23:37Speaker 1: Ebony claims that while this initial discussion was taking place
- 23:40Speaker 1: and negotiations were on the table... Olivia allegedly wiped their
- 23:45Speaker 1: joint business account clean of $ 85, 000. Now, this money was
- 23:50Speaker 1: not profit and it was actually set aside to pay
- 23:52Speaker 1: upcoming bills to manufacturers and suppliers and contractors. That is
- 23:56Speaker 1: absolutely outrageous. Obviously, the way their bank account was set up,
- 23:59Speaker 1: they didn't both have to sign off on deposits like this. No,
- 24:02Speaker 1: so we have a similar bank account set up where
- 24:05Speaker 1: we all have access to it. So it would be
- 24:06Speaker 1: like we had a dispute and you're like, hey, I'm
- 24:08Speaker 1: kicking you out of the business. I'm just forwarding all
- 24:11Speaker 1: the money out of the account. This money that's been
- 24:13Speaker 1: put away for a tax bill right into the account
- 24:15Speaker 1: of Amy. So what allegedly happened was Ebony was getting
- 24:18Speaker 1: these notifications of money being transferred out of their joint account.
- 24:22Speaker 1: And simultaneously, she then got an email from saying that
- 24:25Speaker 1: the password of Allure's Instagram account had been changed. She
- 24:28Speaker 1: then went and checked the Instagram account. It had been
- 24:30Speaker 1: deleted along with the TikTok. She also then discovered that
- 24:33Speaker 1: all the marketing collateral from Canva was deleted. So literally
- 24:38Speaker 1: six years of marketing collateral gone. And all of this
- 24:41Speaker 1: was happening simultaneously. So with no money to pay the
- 24:46Speaker 1: business bills, Ebony began the process of putting the business
- 24:49Speaker 1: into voluntary administration and At this point, she was advised
- 24:53Speaker 1: by lawyers that there was no longer an option for
- 24:56Speaker 1: negotiations with Olivia and she would have to be removed
- 24:59Speaker 1: from the business completely. Now, if you can believe it,
- 25:02Speaker 1: once that settlement was complete, Olivia still allegedly received a
- 25:06Speaker 1: payment of $ 52, 000 for her shares. Has Olivia actually come
- 25:10Speaker 1: out and denied that she took the $ 85, 000 or she
- 25:13Speaker 1: just hasn't touched on any of these allegations? Well, as
- 25:15Speaker 1: Sophie said at the start of the topic, she hasn't
- 25:18Speaker 1: actually put out a dedicated TikTok or real sharing her
- 25:22Speaker 1: side of the story. She's been sharing it sporadically on
- 25:25Speaker 1: Instagram stories, which keep disappearing. She was asked about the
- 25:28Speaker 1: money in a TikTok comment, which she responded, I transferred
- 25:31Speaker 1: money from the business shared account that was in my
- 25:34Speaker 1: name and Ebony's name and the money was returned. I
- 25:37Speaker 1: think the one person I feel most sorry for in
- 25:38Speaker 1: this situation is Mariah, because not only is this affecting
- 25:41Speaker 1: her professionally, but personally, I mean, how could you get
- 25:43Speaker 1: those images ever out of your head of your brother? Well,
- 25:47Speaker 1: it's actually really sad because this has caused a rift
- 25:49Speaker 1: between Mariah and her brother. Now, Olivia has come out
- 25:53Speaker 1: and not so sensitively told Mariah publicly that her brother
- 25:56Speaker 1: has sided with her. Let's take a listen to what
- 25:59Speaker 1: she said.
- 25:59Speaker 6: Mariah has been very riled up and messaging Harley, giving
- 26:04Speaker 6: me a warning to not mention her or her family.
- 26:07Speaker 6: Unfortunately for you, Mariah, I'm a part of your family now.
- 26:10Speaker 6: Your brother is going to marry me. You just cannot
- 26:12Speaker 6: believe he's standing by me.
- 26:13Speaker 5: He never knew me at all.
- 26:14Speaker 6: He just worked for us. We had every Christmas, every birthday,
- 26:18Speaker 6: every funeral.
- 26:19Speaker 3: Merry Christmas.
- 26:20Speaker 1: God, if this was my brother, that would absolutely rile
- 26:23Speaker 1: me up. I'm struggling to understand how a brother could
- 26:25Speaker 1: stand by and let his little sister be treated like this.
- 26:27Speaker 1: There's going to be egg on his face at some
- 26:29Speaker 1: point when they break up and he has to come
- 26:31Speaker 1: crawling back. How old is the brother? He looks quite old.
- 26:33Speaker 1: I'm not sure, but he looks like he's in his
- 26:35Speaker 1: 30s at least. Now, Olivia also directed this message at
- 26:39Speaker 1: Mariah after she sent her a text trying to clear
- 26:41Speaker 1: the air. Let's take a listen.
- 26:44Speaker 5: Make sure you're proud of it because I'll fucking share it.
- 26:47Speaker 5: You want to be a weak dog? You wouldn't say
- 26:49Speaker 5: that to my face because I would drag your ass
- 26:53Speaker 5: through the car park and beat the fucking living daylights
- 26:55Speaker 5: out of you. Fucking dick. Don't you dare send shit
- 26:59Speaker 5: like that, you spineless little rat.
- 27:01Speaker 1: I want to know if Mariah and Harley's mum has
- 27:05Speaker 1: seen Olivia's outbursts on social media because surely this isn't
- 27:08Speaker 1: painting her well in front of the family. She has.
- 27:11Speaker 1: And apparently the mum is in full defence mode of
- 27:15Speaker 1: the daughter.
- 27:15Speaker 7: No.
- 27:16Speaker 1: Well, it's also really awful because Olivia has made some
- 27:19Speaker 1: serious accusations against Ebony and Mariah. I won't be repeating
- 27:23Speaker 1: them because she has yet to provide any plausible receipts
- 27:25Speaker 1: and both Ebony and Mariah have denied what she said.
- 27:30Speaker 1: The fact that this is all unfolding so publicly is
- 27:34Speaker 1: wild to me, considering that the business still has shareholders
- 27:37Speaker 1: and it's still operating, like they're still selling stuff. Do
- 27:39Speaker 1: you think this could be some marketing master ploy by
- 27:43Speaker 1: ebony because i've seen a lot of people in the
- 27:45Speaker 1: comments saying god i'm gonna buy something from you i
- 27:47Speaker 1: feel so bad for you i don't think so would
- 27:49Speaker 1: you buy from this brand no i wouldn't buy from
- 27:52Speaker 1: this brand i know that they've gotten rid of olivia
- 27:54Speaker 1: and people want to come out in support of ebony
- 27:56Speaker 1: and mariah but i personally wouldn't want to wear a
- 28:00Speaker 1: brand name splashed across my chest that has anything to
- 28:02Speaker 1: do with olivia The fucked thing is Ebony has now
- 28:06Speaker 1: taken on all of the debt from the company. So
- 28:08Speaker 1: she is personally liable for the $ 250, 000 of debt that
- 28:13Speaker 1: both of the women actually rung up whilst they were
- 28:16Speaker 1: in charge of this business. So I actually think a
- 28:19Speaker 1: lot more people will be buying from the brand than
- 28:21Speaker 1: you would think because this has gone absolutely viral. People
- 28:25Speaker 1: People have really picked sites. Most people are on Ebony site.
- 28:28Speaker 1: I mean, the one thing I will say is we
- 28:29Speaker 1: have been urging influencers to be more interesting. And I
- 28:33Speaker 1: think that Olivia really has taken one for the team there.
- 28:36Speaker 1: This is what she told her trolls the other night.
- 28:39Speaker 7: Before I finish my night off with watching Shrek, I
- 28:45Speaker 7: swear to God, anyone who is in like these Facebook
- 28:48Speaker 7: groups or like on TikTok or in any of the
- 28:50Speaker 7: comment section is.
- 28:52Speaker 6: Either fat.
- 28:54Speaker 4: Ugly, has shit teeth or they look like they're a
- 28:56Speaker 4: dole bludger. Unfortunately for you, I am none of those things.
- 28:59Speaker 4: So fuck up, you ugly, fat freak and go get
- 29:03Speaker 4: a fucking job. And it's clear that your husband doesn't
- 29:06Speaker 4: fuck you good. So go fucking finger bash yourself and
- 29:09Speaker 4: smell your fingers after because I guarantee they fucking stink
- 29:11Speaker 4: because you've got gonorrhea, you dirty bitch.
- 29:14Speaker 1: Oh my God. I have never heard anything like this
- 29:16Speaker 1: online and I'm here for it. I have to say,
- 29:18Speaker 1: I think I'm going to go and follow her. I
- 29:20Speaker 1: don't think it's absolutely appalling behavior, but I haven't heard
- 29:23Speaker 1: the term finger bashing for quite a while. It was
- 29:26Speaker 1: when she said, before I go and watch Shrek.
- 29:29Speaker 6: Yeah.
- 29:29Speaker 1: I'm wholesomely watching Shrek. Well, you fat gonorrhea written finger.
- 29:34Speaker 1: Did you see her at the hairdressers as well? She
- 29:37Speaker 1: was talking about how everyone's so jealous of her because
- 29:39Speaker 1: she's so attractive. We'll insert that clip here because it's
- 29:42Speaker 1: actually very funny.
- 29:42Speaker 6: Hang on.
- 29:44Speaker 7: Unfortunately for all the ugly people that.
- 29:48Speaker 4: Are coming for me, I'm about to get so much
- 29:50Speaker 4: better looking.
- 29:51Speaker 5: I think I'm going to go get my.
- 29:52Speaker 6: Eyebrows done, lashes done, and I'm going to get Botox
- 29:56Speaker 6: and my.
- 29:57Speaker 1: Lip filler done.
- 29:58Speaker 5: But this is like the ugliest that I will be
- 30:00Speaker 5: and I'm sort of fucking stunning, so.
- 30:04Speaker 1: Now she's actually getting ready to go on a Bali
- 30:07Speaker 1: trip with Sky Wheatley. If you can believe it, those
- 30:09Speaker 1: two are friends. I can believe it. Yeah, I can
- 30:12Speaker 1: believe it. It's so funny because people are really confused
- 30:15Speaker 1: about whether she actually is Irish because there's other clips
- 30:18Speaker 1: where she speaks in a full Australian accent and people
- 30:21Speaker 1: are like, hang on, I'm confused. Your accent keeps changing.
- 30:25Speaker 1: Surely she's Irish though. I do love an Irish accent.
- 30:28Speaker 1: So maybe she is putting it on to sort of
- 30:29Speaker 1: garner some more fans. It's funny you say that because
- 30:32Speaker 1: I watched Ebony's videos first and I was like, oh
- 30:34Speaker 1: my God, this is appalling. And then when I clicked
- 30:36Speaker 1: on Olivia's, I was like, why do I have a
- 30:38Speaker 1: bit of a soft spot for her because she's got
- 30:39Speaker 1: an Irish accent?
- 30:40Speaker 5: Like, I don't know.
- 30:41Speaker 1: It made her feel a bit more removed.
- 30:43Speaker 7: I don't know.
- 30:43Speaker 1: Is that because we all have a bit of a
- 30:44Speaker 1: love for international influences? Yeah, but surely your soft spot
- 30:47Speaker 1: dropped when you started calling everyone ugly and talked about
- 30:50Speaker 1: them finger bashing themselves. I'm definitely team Ebony and Mariah,
- 30:53Speaker 1: but I can't lie. I did follow her in my
- 30:56Speaker 1: finster because I need to keep up with her update.
- 30:58Speaker 1: Kate wants to hear what happens at the end of Shrek.
- 31:00Speaker 1: I want to hear what happens in Bali. I think
- 31:02Speaker 1: we all love a villain, don't we? And one who's
- 31:04Speaker 1: so unashamedly just themselves, who like there were no fucks
- 31:09Speaker 1: given when she released these Instagram stories. And I think
- 31:12Speaker 1: we need a bit more rogueness online. Well, I await
- 31:15Speaker 1: with bated breath because surely next week we're going to
- 31:17Speaker 1: be discussing some drama in Bali involving Sky Wheatley and
- 31:21Speaker 1: Olivia O'Neill. Well, on that note, that is where we're
- 31:23Speaker 1: going to leave things today. If you want to hear
- 31:26Speaker 1: more content from us, though, we drop a subscriber-only episode
- 31:29Speaker 1: every Thursday for Outspoken Plus subscribers. All the details to
- 31:32Speaker 1: sign up are in our show notes. This podcast was
- 31:34Speaker 1: recorded on the traditional land of the Kaurna people of
- 31:37Speaker 1: the Adelaide Plains. We pay respect to elders past and present.