Channel Nine TV legend dies after medical episode and fall from boat in Sydney harbor despite paramedics desperately giving him CPR for 30 minutes
John Westacott was a TV legend who ran 60 minutes for 16 years
He died on Sunday after a suspected medical episode on a boat
Paramedics gave him 30 minutes of CPR, but couldn’t save him
Westacott worked with the Nine network for over two decades
He became the subject of accusations of sexism when a reporter sued Nine
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TV legend John Westacott, who ran 60 Minutes for 16 years and was a controversial media figure, has died after a suspected medical episode on a boat in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
An avid sailor, Westacott, believed to be in his mid-70s, had to be pulled from the water at 1.30pm by NSW Police Marine Area Command after falling from a boat in Sydney Harbour.
Guarded by alarmed crowds, NSW Ambulance paramedics treated him for 30 minutes at the Vaucluse wharf but were unable to save him.
The television titan was on the ship with another man of about the same age who looked visibly upset and who was given a blanket, and an 18-year-old man.
At one point, an emergency responder put a comforting arm around the man’s blanket as they offered him water.
A legend in the Sydney TV industry, Westacott was considered the master of checkbook journalism until 2010 while working at 60 Minutes.
In 2007, the then-executive producer of 60 Minutes became Nine’s director of news and current affairs, replacing Garry Linnell.
TV legend John Westacott, who ran 60 Minutes for 16 years and was a controversial media figure, has died after a suspected medical episode on a boat in Sydney’s eastern suburbs
NSW ambulance crews treated him on Vaucluse wharf for 30 minutes but were unable to save him
By this time, he had been with Nine for 23 years and was considered the most experienced TV journalist on the then troubled network.
In 2008, Westacott made headlines after he was accused of making abusive and sexist remarks to female journalists.
Westacott is said to have told a group of female journalists at a book launch last year that they were only hired for their sex appeal.
“To make it in this industry, you have to have f***ability. To make it in this game, women have to be f***able,” Westacott is said to have said.
The allegations were leveled by Christine Spiteri, Nine’s former Los Angeles correspondent, in a wrongful dismissal and sexual discrimination claim, in which she demanded $500,000 in damages.
Westacott denied making the comment, or saying that with her name, Spiteri would be better off working for SBS.