What happened in Bali did not stay in Bali in the case of Australian Football League (AFL) star Jordan De Goey.
The Collingwood Football Club midfielder/forward now has to face the music following intense public scrutiny for his behavior while partying at a Bali nightclub during his mid-season break.
The furor over De Goey’s scandalous Bali weekend began when a video surfaced depicting his inappropriate behavior at a nightclub. General debauchery involving sexually suggestive actions aside, the 26-year-old notably pulled down the top of a woman who was lying down on her back and briefly exposed her breast at one point. The woman, who was seen with De Goey throughout the video, did not appear distressed.
The video unleashed a scandal down under, with Collingwood – who reportedly allowed De Goey to take the Bali trip in the first place – handing him an AUD25,000 (US$17,394) fine and suspending him until the end of the 2022 season.
Australian media outlets reported that the club has also withdrawn its AUD3.2 million (US$2.2 million) contract offer to De Goey following the scandal.
The woman in the video is believed to be Remy Jackson, who on her Instagram story played down suggestions that De Goey sexually harassed her. She wrote that she could not “believe” the whole frenzy the video has created, before adding, “nothing to see here.” Coconuts has reached out to Jackson for this story.
The De Goey scrutiny on social media went beyond criticism for his behavior at the nightclub.
Amid the public outrage, De Goey posted a message on Instagram bemoaning “a relentless pursuit of athletes by the media.” He then appropriated the hashtag #EnoughIsEnough for his defense, which triggered even more outrage as the hashtag is ordinarily used by victims of sexual abuse to tell their stories.
Those who took De Goey’s side disregarded the sexual harassment angle and said the AFL star, like many other Aussies, was just having fun in Bali.
Some drew the line on sexual harassment.
De Goey himself later uploaded a TikTok video apologizing for the whole incident – adding that has been diagnosed with ADHD since last year and will seek support for it.
It should be noted that this was not De Goey’s first scandal. Last October, he was arrested and charged for forcibly touching a woman and assaulting a man at a New York nightclub. Prosecutors later dropped the sexual harassment charge and he agreed to a plea bargain downgrading his assault charge to second-degree harassment.
He was also charged with indecent assault by the Victoria Police in July 2020 in a case involving a woman that took place in 2015. Charges against De Goey were also dropped for this case – this time in August 2021.
