Whatever you want to call it — “jacketgate”, a “wardrobe meltdown”, or simply a tense moment between workmates — the backlash against Channel Nine newsreader Amber Sherlock for asking her colleague, Julie Snook, to put a jacket on has been more than a tad over-the-top.
The heated exchange, which was captured on camera and leaked to Mumbrella last week, has since made international news, spawned numerous parodies and forced Sherlock, 45, into a temporary social media hiatus.
While some continue to criticise the seasoned journalist, many more have jumped to her defence, arguing the request was perfectly understandable in the high-stakes world of television.
The latest person to get behind her is fellow Channel Nine employee Rebecca Judd, 33, who expressed her empathy for the Sydney news anchor during this weekend’s Portsea Polo event.
"I could totally see where Amber was coming from," the Postcards host told Fairfax Media on Monday.
"I can see why women would be uptight about [wardrobe] because they get criticised. Women are under such pressure, men don't get treated like that.
Sometimes everyone just turns up in white, okay?
"I think [the backlash] has been very unfair. Live TV is high pressure. Men wouldn't be treated the same, they would not have to deal with that."
Judd's comments echo those of several others, including TV stylist Anne Stringer who told Mamamia:
"In an environment of a news desk, where you only see a mid-shot of the talent in a seated line all together, you would try to avoid talent all being in the same colour as it looks like a uniform and too samey-samey.
"Even though the news being delivered should be more important than how someone looks, unfortunately we live in a world where people judge on how someone looks and things like this get noticed."
"I could totally see where Amber was coming from," Judd said. Image via Channel Nine
It's a criticism Judd, who welcomed twin boys with her husband ex-AFL star Chris Judd in September, is sadly all too familiar with.
"I just turn off comments now, it's the best thing ever," she told Fairfax.
"I feel like it's good because trolls love that attention and you can kill their attention by turning off comments, then there is nowhere for them to spread their bile."
Perhaps wisely, one of the first things Sherlock did in the wake of the video disaster was turn off her Twitter account, which has now been re-activated.
She also made her return to the screen on Sunday, wearing red.
Top Comments
Irony: Bec Judd is famous for wearing a dress to the Brownlows. She maintains her currency based on her appearance. If people didn't judge her, she'd be nobody.
As Margaret Thatcher would say 'who are these people?'