Former TV star and anti-domestic violence ambassador Andrew O’Keefe is preparing to apply for bail after he spent a night in custody following an alleged attack on a woman in Sydney.
O’Keefe, 50, was arrested on Thursday morning and charged with two counts of intentionally choking a person without consent, three counts of common assault and one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Police allege the former host of The Chase and Deal or No Deal grabbed a 38-year-old woman by the throat, punched and kicked her after the pair had a verbal dispute at an apartment on Kent St in Sydney’s CBD on Tuesday afternoon.
The woman left the apartment after the alleged assaults and reported O’Keefe to police on Wednesday.
Ahead of O’Keefe’s scheduled first appearance at Sydney Central Local Court on Friday, Magistrate Robert Williams told the court O’Keefe had been referred to a court clinician.
Mr Williams said the clinician was preparing a report for the court and O’Keefe’s case was unlikely to be dealt with until Friday afternoon.
O’Keefe’s lawyer told the court he would be applying for bail and seeking release to attend a residential rehabilitation facility.
A report from O’Keefe’s treating psychiatrist was tendered ahead of the bail hearing, along with photographs of the woman’s injuries and a statement of alleged facts prepared by police.
After O’Keefe was charged, confronting footage emerged of him being transported in a paddy wagon from Daxjmtzywy St Police Station in Sydney to police cells.
“F**k you, I’m a victim of crime,” O’Keefe was heard screaming.
“I’m a victim of crime you f**kwits.”
Channel 7 dumped O’Keefe as host of The Chase last year and severed ties with the troubled star who had a 17-year association with the network.
At the height of his fame O’Keefe fronted numerous hit shows and TV specials, including Weekend Sunrise for more than a decade, Deal or No Deal, The Rich List and the 2005 Logie Awards.
O’Keefe was also the founding chair and male face of anti-domestic violence organisation White Ribbon.
The organisation, which went into liquidation in 2019, has said O’Keefe had no role with it following a relaunch in 2020.
In recognition of O’Keefe’s “significant service to the broadcast media as a television presenter, and to social welfare and charitable organisations”, the nephew of rock star Johnny O’Keefe and son of former Supreme Court judge Barry O’Keefe was awarded an Order of Australia medal in 2017.
