Alan Jones's former private chef says she met a string of fabulous guests but denies seeing any inappropriate behaviour while working for the radio giant.
Vanessa Harcourt worked for the veteran broadcaster for five years, during which time she met multiple high-profile guests including Australia’s first astronaut and various Olympians.
The now-head chef of NSW Parliament entered the witness box on Wednesday to testify in her former employer's trial, where Jones has pleaded not guilty to 21 charges of indecent assault and sexual touching without consent.
Ms Harcourt told the court guests at Jones’s home in the NSW Southern Highlands where she worked were “all sorts of people” and “always someone interesting”.
She recalled one of the complainants, a prominent athlete, staying at the house while she worked there and recalled an instance where a young man had stayed.
A 17-year-old was allegedly kissed and groped by Jones without consent when the house was empty during the period when she was employed.
Ms Harcourt told the court she had not seen any inappropriate conduct by Jones towards the young man or the prominent athlete.
"If it wasn't safe, I wouldn’t have my children there," she said.
The prominent athlete alleges he was kissed by Jones on the corner of his mouth at a Sydney event and kissed and sexually touched without consent by the longtime shock jock at his Circular Quay home.
A former radio staffer has accused Jones of kissing, groping, and sexual misconduct at the NSW Southern Highlands home but the allegations relate to a time when Ms Harcourt was not employed by Jones
The court was told Ms Harcourt left Jones’s employ to take up a position as the executive chef at state parliament, which she still holds.
Her former employer, now 85, has denied allegations from five men that he kissed, groped, or subjected them to sexual misconduct between 2003 and his retirement in 2020.
His barrister Gabrielle Bashir SC argued that the allegations were concocted and her client’s media rivals were involved in at least two of the allegations against him.
Investigative journalist Kate McClymont penned a Sydney Morning Herald article in December 2023 about allegations of indecent assault against Jones.
It sparked a police investigation which eventually led to Jones’s arrest in November 2024 at his waterfront home in Sydney.
McClymont resumed her evidence on Wednesday, which began on Tuesday.
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