‘Lying, sneaky a**hole’: Australia news anchors caught blasting Djokovic on 'hot mic'; watch clip

Tribune Web Desk

Chandigarh, January 12

A leaked video, which shows two Australian TV anchors blasting Novak Djokovic during a private conversation has gone viral online. Mike Amor and Rebecca Maddern of Seven News Melbourne were heard badmouthing Djokovic off-air, referring to him as a "lying, sneaky a**hole" - apparently in reference to the Serbian tennis star making a false declaration about his travel history before arriving in Australia.

Mike Amor and Bec Maddern forgetting the camera/mic is always on 🤣🤣🤣 #Djokovic pic.twitter.com/shre3hZpH8

— #OkBoomers🥉 (@MelbTigerTalk) January 11, 2022

In the off-air conversation, which was leaked online, the Seven News presenters were heard criticising Novak Djokovic while sitting in the studio.

According to Sky News, the conversation took place shortly before they presented the station's 6 pm news programme.

"Whatever way you look at it, Novak Djokovic is a lying sneaky a***hole," Ms Maddern said.

"He got a bullshit f***ing excuse and then fell over his own f***ing lies. It's just what happens, right, that's what happened," her colleague Mike Amor responded. "And then, he now then ticking he didn't go to Spain," Maddern said in reply.

Amor, adjusting a lapel microphone, also accused Djokovic of making excuses and lying. "But I think he is going to get away with it," he said.

The world number one, chasing his 21st Grand Slam title at next week's Australian Open, had his visit to the country sensationally disrupted by a four-night stint in immigration detention after border control guards deemed his medical exemption for being unvaccinated against Covid-19 as invalid.

He had his visa reinstated after a legal challenge, allowing him to stay in the country.

However, medical and travel documents filed in court led to questions about Djokovic's movements before coming to Australia with social media posts appearing to show him in Belgrade less than two weeks before he headed to Spain and then on to Australia.

On Wednesday, Djokovic addressed what he described as "continuing misinformation about my activities" in a long Instagram post.

He said his agent made a "human error" when filling out his travel declaration stating he had not visited any other countries and denied knowingly going out in public after learning of his positive test, other than one photo shoot where he mostly wore a mask.

"I want to emphasise that I have tried very hard to ensure the safety of everyone and my compliance with testing obligations," Djokovic said.

Seven defended the presenters, saying the conversation was private and the video broke state laws which make it an offence to record a person without their permission. It is investigating who was responsible for leaking the video. With inputs from Reuters

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