Venues update: hotel GM sacked for quip about violence against women

Glenn Wright, general manager of Newtown’s Coopers Hotel, was sacked 24 hours after a post appeared on the hotel’s Facebook page that condoned violence against women.

The pub in inner-city Sydney hosts live music on weekends.

Alongside a cartoon image of Batman slapping Robin, the post read: “Keep calm and slap a bitch as we approach the finals of this years [sic] NRL! Live & Loud every game!”

As a backlash began, a second post went up.

“Keep calm and hug like you can’t take a joke as we approach the finals of this years [sic] NRL! Live & Loud every game.”

Public reaction called the posts “deplorable”, “disgusting” and “sick”, and called for a boycott of the hotel.

The Sydney Morning Herald cited a June report from the Centre for Alcohol Policy Research at Melbourne’s La Trobe University which found domestic violence assaults increased by 40% in NSW on State of Origin nights, compared with other Wednesdays.

On Thursday owners stated: “As some of you may be aware, yesterday a staff member posted a meme with an inappropriate comment on our Facebook page. That post was subsequently removed.

“We have taken action in relation to that staff member.

“Their employment has been immediately terminated and they no longer work at the hotel. Their behaviour does not reflect who we are.

“As licensees of Cooper (sic) Hotel, we do not condone violence of any type against any person regardless, of age, gender or sexual preference.

“That’s not who we are.

“We pride ourselves on being part of the Newtown community, providing good food, great entertainment and a safe environment.”

Other venue news:

• One of Adelaide’s live music venues, The Gov, is celebrating its 25^th anniversary. A third generation of the Tonkin family is now working at the venue.
• A call out to all Tassie musicians has been made for: expressions of interest for the 2019 Summer Series at Rosny Farm. Artists are expertly curated and programmed to perform alongside national and international touring artists in The Barn and on The Farm.