Strippergate bus driver – ‘I’m sorry Scarlette was upset’
Chiefs ‘egged on’ lap dance behaviour.
A70-year-old bus driver has confirmed he was the man who touched the entertainer “Scarlette” at the centre of the Chiefs’ Mad Monday scandal. But the man said he never wanted to upset her and is sorry it happened.
He also said he would no longer drive for the Chiefs, or for any “stag” party events. “They are all too much trouble.”
The bus driver was hired by the Chiefs for the day to drive them to celebrations at the Okoroire Hot Springs Hotel near Tirau.
The driver admitted to licking Scarlette as she performed a lap dance for him, which was paid for by the Chiefs.
He said he did so after he was egged on by Chief team members.
“I didn’t intentionally want to do anything that she didn’t want,” the man said.
“I would never have done that if I knew she was going to be upset.”
Scarlette went public last month saying she was touched, licked, had gravel thrown and beer poured on her and was short-changed when she performed a strip show for the Chiefs.
She asked for an additional $50 but she did not receive the extra money.
New details emerged this week after a preliminary report by into the scandal was leaked to the Weekend Herald.
The report contained details from independent witnesses which contrasted with Scarlette’s version of events. The bus driver, whom the Herald
on Sunday has agreed not to name, said Scarlette “seemed happy” to him when he returned to collect the team from the hot pools.
“I went down to see if they were ready and they said come in and then they got me to sit in this chair for her to give me a lap dance,” the man said.
He said he was not told he couldn’t touch Scarlette so thought what he did was acceptable.
“She kind of did a backward flip and ended up with her legs around my neck kind of thing,” he said.“They [the players] were standing around shouting out, encouraging me.”
The man said he briefly licked Scarlette and she then flipped back and kept dancing.
She then got partially dressed and walked around chatting to the players before packing up.
“She came up and gave me a hug and a kiss and gave one of the other players a hug. She didn’t seem upset at all.”
The man said he had been interviewed by an official from NZ Rugby but said he was only present for a small part of the strip show so didn’t know what else had happened.
He said the situation had left him stressed and he would no longer drive for the Chiefs or any other rugby or “stag” style events.
He said he had not heard from any of the players and had not told anyone he was the man involved.
Police received no formal complaint from Scarlette and have not launched a formal investigation.
The probe, headed by New Zealand Rugby’s general counsel Keith Binnie, found allegations made by the entertainer could not be substantiated.