Daily Mail Australia has apologised to Sunrise co-host Samantha Armytage after publishing a story and photographs focusing on her underwear.
The Mail published pap pics of the TV presenter earlier this week under the headline: “Sunrise host Sam Armytage dares to bare with giant granny pants showing a visible line as she steps out in Sydney.” There was an immediate backlash online — and fellow female presenters Lisa Wilkinson and Bec Judd have since voiced their disdain for the article on social media.
Now, the news site has added this statement to the bottom of the story: “An earlier version of this story contained critical statements regarding Samantha Armytage’s appearance. While the story has since been amended, we apologise for any distress caused to Ms Armytage or readers more generally.” The headline has also been changed to: “Casual Sunday! Sunrise host Samantha Armytage goes solo as she heads out on a shopping trip after slamming rumours about her dating life”.
The Mail’s apology comes just hours after the Courier Mail reported that she had instructed Channel 7 lawyers to sue the site for defamation if they didn’t offer an immediate retraction and public apology for the article.
“In a three-page smackdown by Channel 7’s legal counsel at Addisons law firm, the gossip site has been accused of using paparazzi photos, sold by Diimex, to ridicule and humiliate the TV presenter in an article published on Sunday”, the Courier Mail wrote.
“The legal letter, addressed to the Daily Mail’s editor Luke McIlveen and writer Max Margan, stated: “Ms Armytage is at a loss to understand the reasons why Daily Mail Australia has chosen to publish this article, which represents a gross invasion of her privacy,” a view Addisons’ partner, Justine Munsie argued “is widely shared”.”
The paper goes on to report that while Armytage “accepts that she is a public figure” and “subjected to a great deal of media attention”, she “retains a reasonable expectation that intimate, private information which is not known by and is of no interest to any other person would not be the subject of media exposure and comment”.
