Before Zempilas could elaborate further, he appeared to realize his microphone was on, signalling the imminent start of the press conference. “OK, all right,” he said, glancing awkwardly at the camera.
The clip sparked a social media frenzy, with accusations that Zempilas had demeaned women’s tennis. In response to the uproar, Zempilas released a statement insisting that his words were misconstrued. According to him, the conversation with Genovese revolved around the challenge of presenting the news during a major sporting event, with Zempilas referencing Genovese’s news broadcast as the ‘reserves game’ due to potentially lower viewership when compared to the tennis.
“I need to make absolutely clear the conversation I had with @9NewsPerth reporter @GenoveseMichael today is being reported totally incorrectly,” Zempilas stated on X. He clarified that his remark was directed at the competition between reading the news and the tennis broadcast, not at denigrating the tennis itself.
Zempilas further defended his stance by sharing a video of the complete exchange with Genovese, emphasizing the context of their discussion. Genovese also supported Zempilas’ version of events, corroborating that the conversation had been misunderstood.
