Naomi Robson - Controversy

Controversy

Robson has been the subject of a number of unfavourable media reports and controversies.

A number of critical descriptions of Robson have been dismissed by her or her representatives as distortions or fabrications by rival journalists. In particular, when The Daily Telegraph alleged that other reporters called her a "princess" overly concerned with her appearance, Robson herself denied the allegations. When The Australian cited a source describing her as a "cold, waspish, punishment-oriented, dominatrix", Today Tonight producer Neil Mooney described the story as "attempted character assassination ... based on fiction". However, an off-air outburst that was recorded and later broadcast by the Triple J radio station, did provoke a public apology by Robson.

In March 2006 information surfaced that Robson had a brief relationship with a drug dealer and the primary informant in the Tony Mokbel drug trial. Mokbel's counsel, Con Heliotis, QC, spoke during pre-trial submissions of evidence that Robson was supplied cocaine though this was never discussed during the trial. Robson refuted these claims stating that they had a "short-lived association" and that he "had totally misrepresented himself". She referred to the drug allegations as "a pack of lies" and stated that she was "extremely anti-drugs".

In September 2006 while reporting on the death of Steve Irwin she appeared on air wearing khaki and with a lizard on her shoulder. Several months later Robson described the incident as a mistake, but that it was not her idea to wear the shirt or the reptile and she was not comfortable with it at the time.

In September 2006, Robson and her crew were detained in Indonesia after arriving in the country with tourist visas to film a story on a boy they believed was in danger of being killed by cannibals. They were later deported.

In early 2010, Robson's manager, Max Markson, made several attempts to remove comments about these controversies from Wikipedia, describing the article on Robson as "libellous". Wikipedia editors responded with concerns that Markson's edits were biased and in contravention of Wikipedia guidelines. The incident attracted media coverage, drawing further attention to the controversies (the so-called Streisand effect).

In August 2010, Robson appeared in a promotion for pay-TV screenings of The Chaser's War on Everything, her former critics, in the form of a mock interview.