New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s partner Clarke Gayford has won a “confidential sum” in settlement from media company NZME after its podcast broadcasted “baseless lies” about him.
The statements against Mr Gayford were made on 25 March on NZME’s podcast and digital radio channel called KICK.
The media network acknowledged and apologised for the “damaging and untrue” comments made during the podcast and later published on social media pages.
“The statements were based on rumours about Mr Gayford that are baseless lies,” it addded. “NZME Radio has apologised to Mr Gayford for these publications and the hurt and distress they have caused and accepts that he has never been the subject of criminal charges and is not now the subject of criminal charges in any court in New Zealand.”
The two parties reached an out of court settlement and “NZME Radio agreed to pay a confidential sum to Mr Gayford,” it added.
Mr Gayford was subjected to a smear campaign for several years over unsubstantiated rumours and conspiracy theories of his infidelity to New Zealand’s prime minister and his involvement in a legal case.
Swirling rumours in 2018 had forced police to issue an extraordinary statement, confirming that Mr Gayford was not facing any investigation.
“While in general we do not respond to enquiries which seek to confirm if individuals are under police investigation, on this occasion we can say that Mr Gayford is not and has not been the subject of any police inquiry, nor has he been charged in relation to any matter,” the statement by Police National Headquarters had said.
Ms Ardern and Mr Gayford had also been targeted during anti-vaccine protests. In April last year, a plane was flown over Auckland with a banner reading “Where is Clarke?”, likely referring to a false rumour that he was due a court appearance.
The two got engaged in 2019 and were set to marry earlier this year. But the wedding was postponed due to the Covid pandemic. He and Ms Ardern had a daughter in 2018 named Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford.
