Star clients back Hey Dad! wife Robyn Gardner
Amy Harris
The Sunday Telegraph
April 12 2014
SOME of the world’s biggest stars are standing by Australian power agent Robyn Gardiner in the aftermath of the conviction of her husband, R obert Hughes, for child sex abuse.
With Hughes awaiting sentencing on 10 counts of sexual and indecent assault of young girls, Sydney Confidential understands that Gardiner’s Sydney-based agency RGM, founded as Robyn Gardiner Management in 1982, has not lost a single client.
The agency’s client list boasts Oscar winner Cate Blanchett, who personally thanked Gardiner when she collected her Best Actress Oscar for Blue Jasmine last month, along with in-demand actors including Mia Wasikowska and Ryan Kwanten, comedian Chris Lilley, actor Lisa McCune, Tropfest founder and film director John Polson, TV personalities Amanda Keller and Andrew Denton.
A well-placed source at a rival agency admitted there was some speculation in Sydney film circles that the scandal that has engulfed Hughes since 2010 may cost the agency at least one big-name client.
“Clearly Robyn has cultivated an enormous amount of loyalty among her stable,” the talent management insider said.
Gardiner sold RGM to former Southern Star Group boss Hugh Marks and ex-Channel 10 chief executive Grant Blackley last year and has since scaled back her role at the agency to an advisory role.
It’s her acting department head Erin O’Conner, as well as agents Trent Baker, El Erdmane and Tracey Silvester, who are the day-to-day points of contact.
It was O’Connor who accompanied Blanchett to the AACTA Awards this year and she also oversees the career of another Gardiner protege — Rose Byrne.
Contacted for comment, reps for Gardiner and RGM said: “RGM Artists is an independently owned and operated business of Hugh Marks and Grant Blackley. Robyn founded the business and we will always value her guidance and expertise.”
So what makes these people tick extract below from an open letter of support for Photographer Bill Henson, signed by Carbon Cate and the usual Luvvies of the Yaarrrrrrt's Community see link for full story scroll to bottom of post.
TUESDAY, MAY 27, 2008
Open Letter of Support for Bill Henson
http://billhensonletterofsupport.blogspot.com.au/
PRESS RELEASE: MAY 27, 2008
"As members of the Creative Stream of the Australia 2020 Summit, we wish to express our dismay at the police raid on Bill Henson’s recent Sydney exhibition, the allegations that he is a
child pornographer, and the subsequent reports that he and others may be charged with obscenity."
"Many of us have children of our own. The sexual abuse and exploitation of children fills us all with abhorrence. But it is equally damaging to deny the obvious fact that adolescents are sexual beings. This very denial contributes to abusive behaviour, because it is part of the denial of the personhood of the young. In my opinion, Mr Henson’s work shows the delicacy of the transition from childhood to adulthood, its troubledness and its beauty, in ways which do not violate the essential innocence of his subjects. It can be confronting, but that does not mean that it is pornography."
ninemsn
April 14, 2014
The niece of convicted child sex offender Robert Hughes has spoken out about her torment at the hands of her uncle, saying he "stalked" and "abused" her for years.
In a tearful interview, Melinda O'Donnell said when she was a child, the Hey Dad! star made her lie on his bed for a "massage" during which he would fondle her breasts.
Ms O'Donnell said that her uncle was "very sneaky" and "would try to disguise it so if anyone did think anything looked odd, he would be able to excuse it by saying 'I was just tickling her'".
Ms O'Donnell has spoken publicly for the first time since her witness testimony during Hughes' trial helped convict the 65-year-old of 10 charges involving four victims.
The now 40-year-old mother said Hughes would abuse her at any opportunity, and would brazenly expose himself to her while others were in the room.
She said that even when she raised the issue of inappropriate touching with Hughes' daughter, her cousin Jessica, she was told "that's just my dad. That's how he is. He's very affectionate."
Ms O'Donnell said her immediate family eventually severed ties with Hughes about a decade ago, and she said her mother was now "very angry" and that she herself had "a lot of hatred for him".
Ms O'Donnell said she 'felt sick' when she discovered former child star Sarah Monahan had come forward with allegations that she was abused on the set of the hit television show.
She added that the revelations proved a catalyst in her decision to finally come forward about the abuse she faced.
"I knew that this was going to rip our family apart. I was pregnant with my second child and terrified but I also knew I had to come forward myself," Ms O'Donnell said.
Hughes will be sentenced on May 2, and Ms O'Donnell said she "is praying" that he gets the sentence he "deserves – life in prison, so that he can never hurt anyone again".
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