The bosses of Australian journalist Natasha Exelby have denied claims the newsreader has been axed after an awkward – and very human – blooper went viral at the weekend.
The ABC News 24 news reader was presenting late-night rolling coverage on Sunday when she was caught live on-air daydreaming as a pre-recorded story came to a close.
Upon releasing her faux pas, the veteran journalist let out a theatrical gasp, jumped to attention and gracefully segwayed into the following story.
WATCH: Natasha Exelby’s very human moment has since gone viral. Post continues…
Taking to Twitter, she responded to the incident promptly (and in good humour), tweeting: “Not my finest hour. Myself and my mesmerising pen honourably salute you!”
But reports quickly surfaced that her bosses at ABC had banned the journalist from future on-air roles, according to News Corp, sparking a Change.org petition and backlash on social media.
However ABC director of news, Gaven Morris, has denied Exelby, who is a casual employee of the network, was being punished.
“We take on-air standards extremely seriously, but we don’t expect perfection. No one would ever be punished for a blooper and, while it isn’t appropriate to publicly discuss confidential details of people’s personal work arrangements, this has not happened to Natasha.
“While she is not currently doing any on-air shifts, this will be subject to normal performance management. I have spoken to Natasha and conveyed our regret that this has attracted such attention.”
While Sky News political reporter Laura Jayes labelled the alleged axing a “ridiculous, humourless over reaction.”
She added: “This was funny, it went viral, the audience obviously loved the endearing, human moment.”
Australian politicians also joined the outraged chorus, with Labor leader Bill Shorten tweeting: “It’s live TV. This is just ridiculous”.
Senator Sam Dastyari, another a Labor politician, has also stepped out in support of the newsreader calling the entire incident “more funny and embarrassing than serious”.
“The idea that someone would be punished for what is a very innocent mishap is extraordinary,” he told to Fairfax Media.
“If she is going to be punished for such a minor, humorous and innocent error – I think bigger questions need to be asked about the culture of the ABC.”
WATCH: Kiwi newsreader, Simon Dallow, make on-air blooper
Words: Candice Mehta-Culjak