Massage therapist tells court Gayle exposed himself
The massage therapist at the centre of West Indies cricketer Chris Gayle’s defamation case against Fairfax Media has told a court she ‘‘cried uncontrollably’’ after the sportsman exposed himself to her by pulling his towel down in a Sydney dressing room.
‘‘I saw the top half of Chris’ penis - I apologise. I thereafter shielded my view,’’ Leanne Russell told the NSW Supreme Court yesterday.
Gayle is suing Fairfax Media for defamation over a series of articles published in The Sydney
Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times between January 6 and January 9 last year that alleged he exposed himself to Russell during the 2015 Cricket World Cup.
Gayle, 38, gave evidence on Monday that the incident did not happen and the ‘‘heartbreaking’’ allegations were ‘‘the most hurtful thing I’ve actually come across in my entire life’’.
Fairfax Media is defending the stories on two bases, including that the allegations are true.
Russell, who is now an executive assistant to the chief financial officer and the general manager of clubs and broadcasting at the Australian Football League, was the West Indies team’s massage therapist during the 2015 Cricket World Cup.
Russell told the court she spoke out about the incident in the wake of Gayle’s famous ‘‘don’t blush baby’’ interview with sports reporter Mel McLaughlin because she was ‘‘furious that women who work hard in this industry are made to feel that way both on camera and in a change room’’.
She told the court she had set up her massage table in the West Indies team’s dressing room at Drummoyne Oval in Sydney’s inner west on February 11, 2015, and had returned to the room for some lunch when she encountered Gayle and his teammate Dwayne Smith.
‘‘Chris was just inside the change room,’’ Russell said.
‘‘He was probably about five or six feet back near where the bank of lockers starts. Dwayne was behind Chris’ left shoulder.
‘‘Chris was wearing a towel. I believe he was wearing a shirt as well.’’
Russell said Gayle asked her: ‘‘What are you looking for?’’
‘‘I said, ‘a towel’,’’ she said. She told the court Gayle asked her, ‘‘Are you looking for this?’’ and ‘‘pulled his towel out and down’’ to expose the top of his penis.
‘‘I proceeded to shield my eyes and I said no,’’ Ms Russell said.
Russell said she told the team’s physiotherapist about the incident immediately.
She was ‘‘very upset’’ and was ‘‘crying ... for some time’’ in the stands at Drummoyne Oval after she left the dressing room.
‘‘I had my sunglasses on. I was crying uncontrollably. I was crying like a child,’’ she said.
She said she had known Gayle for 10 years and ‘‘jokes of that nature meant nothing to him’’ but were confronting for her.
Fairfax’s barrister, Matthew Collins, QC, asked Russell why she told Gayle she was looking for a towel when she was in fact looking for a sandwich.
‘‘I have a history of eating disorders,’’ Russell said, adding that she had suffered from anorexia.
‘‘I often avoid food. My natural inclination is not to discuss food. It was a knee-jerk reaction to avoid the topic of food.’’
Gayle’s teammate, Smith, gave evidence on Tuesday the alleged incident ‘‘did not happen’’ and he would have remembered it if it did.
But he admitted he sent a text to Russell on February 10, a day before the alleged incident, which simply said ‘‘sexy’’.
The hearing continues.