From poster boy to pariah: How Andrew O'Keefe almost killed the White Ribbon cause - and its CURSE of celebrity ambassador endorsements

Daily Mail​

6 hours ago

It's hard now to believe disgraced gameshow host Andrew O'Keefe was once a celebrated White Ribbon ambassador, at the forefront of its fight to end violence against women.
He would often be photographed with the movement's emblem pinned to his jacket, and was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2017 for his work with them, adding its distinctive stud to the same lapel.
But by the time O'Keefe was first accused of assaulting a woman in 2021, he and White Ribbon had already parted ways, and it was revealed this week the shamed TV star had finally handed back his AM last month.
With the 53-year-old's string of court cases over - his last appearance was in February - the onetime host of Deal or No Deal and The Chase Australia has given up wearing suits. It's been a long time since he needed a tuxedo.
These days, O'Keefe can be spotted hanging around Sydney 's eastern suburbs in one of his lurid casual outfits, smoking a cigarette and doing little else.
O'Keefe says he has once and for all been able to give up the drugs that fuelled his appalling conduct and even White Ribbon, which he once chaired, wishes him well.
White Ribbon has also learned from its mistake using O'Keefe to push its message and has completely abandoned using celebrities as ambassadors, according to its CEO.
'White Ribbon Australia is no longer reliant on public figures or ambassadors,' Merinda March said.
'That model failed us, and more importantly, it failed the cause. Real change doesn't come from celebrity endorsement.'
The notion that all publicity is good publicity clearly doesn't apply when you're trying to stop men being violent towards women.
Among the entries on his rap sheet, O'Keefe was found guilty in January last year of a 'violent and degrading' assault on a woman he had called a 'lying dog' and a 'c***'.
He was convicted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, common assault and contravening an AVO, and placed on an 18-month community corrections order.
In October, Magistrate Jacqueline Milledge sentenced O'Keefe to another 30-month community corrections order for breaching an AVO.
O'Keefe had previously avoided convictions for assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm in June 2021, when those charges were dealt with under mental health provisions of the law.
He also faced six charges after he allegedly punched, kicked and choked another woman in January 2022, but by the time the matter was heard, the alleged victim had left the country.
Having pleaded not guilty - claiming he acted in self-defence - charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, common assault and choking were withdrawn in February 2023.
Back in 2014, when O'Keefe was host of Weekend Sunrise, he told the Daily Telegraph he was on a mission to change men's attitudes about violence towards women.
O'Keefe particularly encouraged men not to speak in a way that denigrated the opposite sex and to challenge those who do.
'It's a really simple thing on paper to say, it's really hard to do in practice,' he said. 'But having done it myself, you get nothing but kudos from mates when you do.'
O'Keefe's long prior association with White Ribbon was raised almost every time he was arrested and continued to do its reputation no good.
But he was not the only man to cause the movement embarrassment after being made an ambassador, just its highest-profile bad choice.
Ballarat man Jon Seccull, a former prison officer who had been a White Ribbon ambassador, was arrested in 2017 and charged with sexually abusing his wife between 2014 and 2015.
He was found guilty in 2023 of three counts of rape and one of threatening behaviour and in 2024, was jailed for a minimum six years and 10 months.
In 2015, psychiatrist and White Ribbon ambassador Tanveer Ahmed wrote a column for The Australian newspaper in which he blamed violence against women in part on 'male disempowerment'.
By the time O'Keefe was first accused of assaulting a woman in 2021, he and White Ribbon had parted ways. He is pictured at the 2006 Logies with singer and actor Natalie Bassingthwaighte
Ahmed, who wrote that discussion about domestic violence debate focused on 'male villainy… and a cult of victimhood', was not asked to stand down from his White Ribbon role but resigned voluntarily.
Seven months later, NRL great and former White Ribbon Day ambassador Hazem El Masri was charged with assaulting his wife, but a year later was completely cleared.
In 2018, former NSW Director of Public Prosecutions Nicholas Cowdery resigned as chair of the White Ribbon board after he made comments about baby killer Keli Lane's sex life on the ABC.
Later that year, Luke Foley resigned as NSW Labor leader and was stripped of his White Ribbon ambassadorship after being accused of having put his hand down a female ABC journalist's underpants in 2016.
Onetime federal MP and Australian Rules great Phil Cleary has campaigned to stop male violence against women since his sister Vicki was murdered in 1987 by an ex-partner.
Cleary got to know O'Keefe through White Ribbon, and in January he told Daily Mail Australia the fallen presenter should return his AM if he really wanted to show remorse.
On Monday, it was revealed O'Keefe had finally done exactly that, and Governor-General Sam Mostyn had accepted his resignation of the award with effect from June 4.
The next day, White Ribbon Australia issued a press release reiterating its association with O'Keefe had ended in 2019 and stating it 'denounces, in the strongest possible terms, Mr O'Keefe's actions and violence against women'.
White Ribbon Australia was established in 2007, went into voluntary liquidation in 2019 with debts of $840,000 and was resurrected under the stewardship of community services provider Communicare the following year.
CEO Merinda March said White Ribbon's past association with O'Keefe and 'other former ambassadors whose actions have come under public scrutiny' had prompted a 'fundamental shift' in its approach to ending violence against women.
'Andrew O'Keefe's actions are deeply distressing to Australians who support our organisation's aims to end violence against women,' Ms March said.
'Mr O'Keefe was White Ribbon Australia's former chair, and a founding ambassador, and his appointment to these positions has been harmful to the values and reputation of our organisation.'
Ms March said 'real change' had to come from 'everyday men - dads, brothers, mates, co-workers and the women who support and influence them'.
Addressing the scourge of domestic violence in Australia would require 'having honest conversations, challenging harmful behaviours, and taking responsibility'.
'That is where the movement lives now, and that is where our focus must stay,' Ms March said.
White Ribbon's press release ended by acknowledging the main victim of O'Keefe's offending and with a final note of hope for the future.
It added: 'We also wish him well in his journey towards recovery and healing.'