John Key NZ PM and the Waitress!

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key publicly apologised Wednesday to a waitress who labelled him a ‘school yard bully’ for repeatedly pulling her ponytail on visits to her cafe.

Within an hour “The Daily Blog” published the pony-tailed waitress’s it went viral read by thousands. Twitter took it further with their comments and questions. And by mid-day the mainstream news media’s reporters had forced a clearly spooked Prime Minister to get off his plane at LA International Airport and deliver a public admission and apology to the young woman he’d repeatedly pestered in a Parnell café.

Even before his admission and apology, however, John Key’s friends and allies were leaping to his defence. The PM was only being playful, they insisted. It wasn’t at if he’d touched her breasts or backside. Tugging a girl’s pony-tail – what male hasn’t? (Not many, it’s true, but most of them were under twelve years-of-age!) There was nothing sexual in it. For God’s sake – the man’s wife was present! Seriously, who could object to a little friendly fun?

Well, the young woman did and tried to avoid him, but he crept up behind her. She told her boss, who told the PM. He kept on tugging. Finally, exasperated, the waitress mustered all her courage (and if you are a young woman, and the man pulling your pony-tail is the Prime Minister, a great deal of courage is required) and told him to his face to cut it out. Even then, the prime-ministerial banter and teasing continued. Finally, someone – his wife Bronagh, one of his security detail, a neighbour who dines at the same café – managed to convince him that his behaviour was unwanted, unacceptable and must cease. He returned to the café, bearing two bottles of his own wine as a peace-offering. Turns out it was too little, too late.

As women’s groups expressed outrage, Key said he now realised his behaviour was inappropriate but insisted he was merely ‘horsing around’, not acting maliciously. ‘It was all in the context of a bit of banter that was going on,’ he told TVNZ, saying he apologised and gave the woman two bottles of wine when he realised she had taken offence. By chance, the story broke when the PM was out of the country, en route to the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings. That sombre event will, in all likelihood banish “tailgate” from the nation’s front-pages.
The unnamed Auckland waitress recounted her story in an anonymous column on left-wing website thedailyblog.co.nz, saying the conservative leader’s actions reduced her to tears. She said Key persisted in tugging her hair on at least half a dozen separate occasions, even though she had clearly signalled her displeasure and once warned his security detail she would punch him if he continued.

At one point, Key’s wife Bronagh told him ‘leave the poor girl alone’, the woman wrote, saying that the prime minister gave the impression ‘that he just didn’t care’. ‘He was like the schoolyard bully tugging on the little girls’ hair trying to get a reaction, experiencing that feeling of power,’ she said in the blog.

The waitress said Key eventually got the message and stopped tormenting her in late March, telling her he had not realised how upset she was at his behaviour, which lasted for several months. ‘Really?! That was almost more offensive than the harassment itself,’ she wrote.

‘Crossed the line’

Key won a third term in office last year and is normally renowned for his political radar, enjoying 49 percent support in opinion polls even after seven years in power. Quizzed on whether he had acted appropriately, the 53-year-old said he had visited the cafe for years and had a fun relationship with staff, including practical jokes.

The row stirred a strong reaction on social media and was soon trending on Twitter under the hashtag #ponytailgate, with most criticising Key but some saying it would not affect his popularity ratings.

The National Women’s Council said it was difficult for a female cafe worker to stand up to the prime minister and Key had ‘crossed the line’ with his unwanted touching.

‘The fact that our prime minister has joined the list of people outed for sexism highlights how much sexism is part of our culture. And it starts at the top,’ it said. Human Rights Commissioner Jackie Blue also weighed in saying: ‘It’s never okay to touch someone without their permission.’

Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei described Key’s behaviour as ‘weird’, saying it was disrespectful towards the woman and her job. ‘New Zealanders know you can’t walk into a cafe and start tugging on someone’s hair, especially if they’ve told you they don’t like it,’ she told reporters.

‘John Key should be held to the same standards as the rest of us.’