Australian PM Defends Twerking Dancehall Troupe, Slams ABC For ‘Deceptive’ Editing Of Viral Video

In the aftermath of the now-viral video of 101 Doll Squadron gyrating to Sean Paul’s Boasty and Koffee’s Toast, during a Royal Australian Navy’s ship commissioning ceremony, the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has defended the female dance troupe.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), which created the video, was also forced to apologise after the PM, accused it of editing the clip in a manner that misled the public into believing that Governor-General David Hurley and the Chief of Navy were in attendance during the women’s raunchy display.

A news item carried by Australian 9News reported on Thursday that: “the ABC has apologized over misleading viewers over its coverage of the Navy’s ‘twerking controversy’, the Prime Minister leading the attack, accusing the ABC of being dishonest and disrespectful” to the performers.

Morrison had also accused the ABC of deliberately misleading Australians, as the Governor-General had not arrived at the venue during the time the twerking was taking place, and that it was “well over before the official motorcade rolled in”.

Morrison also said it was a matter for the military to determine if the women’s performance was inappropriate.

The 101 Doll Squadron also issued a release saying that “the editing” of the ABC video “was creepy and the outrage made them feel unsafe” and that they had been “under personal attack on all media platforms” since their performance over the weekend.

The group also claimed that the display, which would rival Fantan Mojah’s Fire King dancers, “was made up of choreographic and musical elements that included referencing blessings, the waves of the ocean and our geographical location of where the fresh water meets the sea”.

The dancers also accused the ABC of “deceptive editing” which “cut to guests and dignitaries who were not in attendance and shooting from angles which could not be seen by the audience,” and claimed that “these are the images appearing in the media and the ABC have a lot to answer for in making us feel threatened and exploited.”

NEW: The Royal Australian Navy commissioned HMAS Supply in Sydney today, and uh….. organised this dance to celebrate pic.twitter.com/OvCYlhhGZG

— Alex Bruce-Smith (@alexbrucesmith) April 10, 2021

However, the ABC has denounced the group’s claims, affirming that its “footage of the dance performance was shot in a standard manner, from the same position as other parts of the ceremony”.

The ABC also took a swipe at their critics, cheekily noting that the “incident has caused annoyance inside federal government ranks, with one unnamed government frontbencher labelling it a “shitshow”.

“In a widely circulated ABC video, the troupe are seen performing — and at times, “twerking” — in front of stony-faced dignitaries attending the launch of the HMAS Supply in Woolloomooloo,” the ABC wrote.

In its apology to the Governor-General and the Navy Chief, the ABC admitted that its original social media video about the event featuring 101 Doll Squadron, which included cut-away shots showing the two dignitaries and the Chief of Defence observing the performance, was edited to include them as the news editors thought they had been present during the performance.

“This was incorrect. While the Chief of Defence was present, the Governor-General and the Chief of Navy in fact arrived after the performance.   Our reporting team initially believed they were present both because they were shown in footage of the event and because a government MP had said that they were present.  The video should not have been edited in that way and the ABC apologises to the Governor-General and the Chief of Navy, and to viewers, for this error,” it said.

However, many Aussies over on YouTube where the video has been shared several times, have a differing view.

According to them, 101 Doll Squadron, the Prime Minister and the Navy were scapegoating the ABC, because whether the Governor-General was in attendance or not, the raunchy display by the women was totally unsuitable for a ceremony of that nature.

“They are complaining of feeling violated and so on because the clip was poorly edited to show dignitaries present who was not there. What a joke. Their performance sucked. Most inappropriate for the occasion and very awkward. They want to use ABC as scapegoat but once the footage is viewed one can see for themselves it was in bad taste. So who WERE they performing for at a ship’s launching?” Glenford Pinder questioned.

“The audience, including MPs, the CDF and others were watching the performance. It happened. That’s a fact. The editor erred by adding pics of the GG and chief of Navy. But everyone else was there, Stephen Spencer wrote on a post shared by The Australian newspaper on Twitter.

“Talk about missing the point. Please do some real investigation as to who commissioned this, who approved it and why? That is the real question,” kary_ce said

“Look at the picture, look at the dress. It doesn’t matter “what angle” was taken,” ValeEnding wrote, while NillyJo declared sarcastically: “Ok, good call on the editing but who in the bloody blazes thought “Hey! I’ve got an idea to get some girls twerking in front of a naval ship!”

While many men said they enjoyed the sight of skimpily-dressed female bodies, other mocked their attempt to replicate the Jamaican dance moves.

“They dance like cows!” Valery Ramble wrote, while fablewalls noted: “They’re nice to look at but they’re not actually that good at what they do?”

“Has to be one of the worst dance routines I’ve seen, n I’ve watched a lot of women dance,” Cain Roberts stated while daam added: “What a weird combo. Reggae dance hall and the navy”.

“This is so embarrassing. Nothing against the dancers personally but whoever set this up and allowed this should be fired lol. This is a war fighting organization not a strip club,” RubyDoesNotExisttt teased.