Another Costello exits Nine amid internal review
A Current Affair reporter Seb Costello has resigned from Nine as the network investigates an incident where he chased an interviewee into a women’s bathroom and filmed him over the cubicle door.
Last November, Costello and an A Current Affair film crew chased Mo Ahmed, an executive from Oak Capital, into a bathroom at the InterContinental Hotel in Melbourne, and tried to stage an interview through a cubicle door.
Ahmed, whose firm was being sued by ASIC at the time, alleged assault, and Nine launched an internal review into the incident. Costello was stood down, and had not returned to work since the incident.
Seb Costello
“After more than a decade at Nine, I have resigned from my role to seek a fresh challenge,” Costello confirmed over the weekend. “I would like to thank Nine and wish them all the best.”
Nine also confirmed the departure to Mumbrella, simply stating: “Nine confirms that Seb Costello has resigned his employment. We wish him all the best.”
Costello’s exit from the network followed that of his father, Nine Entertainment’s former chair Peter Costello, who stood down last June after he was caught on camera allegedly assaulting a reporter from The Australian, at Canberra Airport – an act he later denied.
Costello with Eddie McGuire
The younger Costello’s bathroom incident occurred just weeks after Nine revealed the results of a damning review into its workplace culture, which found “concerning levels of inappropriate workplace behaviours at Nine.”
Acting-CEO Matt Stanton admitted the report, issued by third-party Intersection after dozens of complaints at the network, was “personally distressing for me to read”. Nine chair Catherine West said of the findings, “abuse of power, bullying, sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct is not okay. This behaviour has no place at Nine.”
At the time of publishing, Seb Costello was still listed on the talent agency AMW Media as a client. Mumbrella has reached out to the agency to ask whether it is still representing Costello.
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I remember being interviewed by Seb once around a decade ago when he was a fresh faced on the beat reporter. for Nine
Really friendly and professional guy. Hope he finds success wherever he lands.