Suspicions and hot takes abound, but what do we actually know about what went down between two journalists at parliament, and the backdrop against which the aftermath played out?
To echo the words of Te Pāti Māori MP Oriini Kaipara, it’s been a “deeply upsetting” saga to watch unfold. After weeks of scrutiny, TVNZ political editor Maiki Sherman announced her departure from the broadcaster on Friday after allegations became public that, in 2025, she made homophobic comments to another journalist.
But, why has this been so “deeply upsetting”? Many have spoken about how much it hurt to see a Māori woman rise to a position of power, only to see her go over something that happened a year earlier. Meanwhile, there’s been heat in some politicians’ positions. They have been quick to point out that Sherman was accused of the kind of behaviour political journalists would jump on if it were a politician.
Now, add to that, this played out against a backdrop of increasingly sour interactions between TVNZ and the government, and the fact the story was broken by a former National party staffer on her Substack.
No wonder, emotions are running high and allegations (many without evidence) are being thrown around. So what do we actually know about the lead up to Sherman’s resignation?
March 25, 2024
Sherman is named TVNZ’s new political editor, replacing Jessica Mutch-McKay. She is the first wāhine Māori to be appointed as a political editor of a mainstream broadcaster.
May 13, 2025
Members of the press gallery attend pre-Budget drinks hosted by finance minister Nicola Willis in her ministerial office. Sherman and Stuff journalist Lloyd Burr attend. Drinks are served. According to Sherman, “deeply personal and inappropriate remarks” were made to her. Stuff says Burr has told the company his account of the evening and the company backs him. Sherman is alleged to have used a homophobic slur. Willis hears inappropriate language and shuts the event down.
May 14, 2025
Sherman apologises to “a journalist” and Willis, and informs her manager of the incident. Willis also contacts the journalist involved, who she says tells her “he did not want to take the matter any further”.
December, 2025
Gossip about what happened that night reaches Newstalk ZB. After digging into the rumours, a producer from the Mike Hosking Breakfast show goes to TVNZ for comment. The broadcaster’s lawyers “threatened to sue”, according to Hosking, and this had a “chilling effect”, putting the story on ice.
February 10, 2026
1News reports on efforts made by Winston Peters’ office to get the foreign minister ringside at a Joseph Parker boxing match while on a ministerial trip through the Middle East and Asia. About an hour after the broadcast, Peters’ press secretary strikes back with an email “photo essay” (full of snaps of his engagements while travelling) to reporters titled “providing missing context” from the 1News story.
February 11, 2026
Peters continues his attack on the broadcaster in the debating chamber, calling the story “unhinged, unbalanced and disgraceful”. “They don’t believe in balance and honesty and integrity,” Peters says. “If they’d had the decency to ask me, I would have showed them receipts of me paying personally for me and my staff member [to attend the Parker bout], not the taxpayer, unlike you, you bludger.”
February 26, 2026
Police minister Mark Mitchell takes to Facebook to criticise a 1News broadcast. The story details how the number of gang members in New Zealand has overtaken the number of police officers. Mitchell takes issue with the fact the story is aired on the same day the government releases fresh figures lauding a drop in victims of crime and repeat youth offending.
“Absolutely unbelievable that on a day that the Government announces 49,000 fewer victims of violent crime and a 22 per cent decrease in serious repeat youth offending, 1News chose instead to engage in unbalanced journalism by running a story about gang membership with none of the context around the outstanding work our Police are doing in cracking down on gangs in New Zealand,” Mitchell writes.
February 27, 2026
The next morning, one of TVNZ’s news bosses, Phil O’Sullivan, sends Mitchell’s post to Sherman, who confirms she has contacted the minister to apologise. Internal emails seen by The Post reveal that the prime minister’s office then gets in touch with O’Sullivan to express concern with the “lack of balance”, “particularly as we head into an election campaign”.
March 3, 2026
The Herald’s Shayne Currie reveals that TVNZ chairman Andrew Barclay calls media and communications minister Paul Goldsmith and airs his dissatisfaction with the gang numbers story. Goldsmiths claims he did not respond to the matter.
March 5, 2026
After Goldsmith is questioned in the House over the call and the government’s influence on TVNZ’s editorial decisions, the broadcaster’s chief executive, Jodi O’Donnell, emails the newsroom. “I want to be clear: that call did not influence our editorial decision-making and at no time did I feel any pressure from directors to raise the story with newsroom leadership,” O’Donnell writes. “I understand why the sequence of events here has created a perception and has put TVNZ under scrutiny. I don’t take that lightly, and it’s a frustrating position for the newsroom to be in.”
April 24, 2026
The National Party lodges a complaint with TVNZ about its parliamentary reporters. Senior minister and the party’s campaign chair, Simeon Brown, publishes a Facebook post accusing a TVNZ reporter of “aggressively” banging on the door of National’s chief whip Stuart Smith for “several minutes”. The TVNZ reporter allegedly “pressured” Smith over “how he would be portrayed” on TVNZ’s Breakfast.
Later that day, Luxon, who has seen two embarrassing interviews with new TVNZ Breakfast host Tova O’Brien go viral, announces he will no longer appear on the morning show each week.
April 28, 2026
Ani O’Brien, a former National Party staffer, publishes a Substack post detailing allegations about the May 2025 incident between Sherman and Burr. “The media cannot frame themselves as arbiters of conduct while refusing to examine their own. And they cannot expect what little public trust remains in them to hold if they are seen to protect their own at the expense of the truth,” O’Brien writes.
O’Brien’s post also makes allegations about Burr, which his employer, Stuff, denies (the allegation is later removed). “Stuff Group stands by, and has complete faith in, Lloyd Burr’s account of the events and his conduct in Minister Willis’ office last May,” it says in a statement. “We will continue to respect his wishes not to comment further on what occurred that night.
That afternoon, Act Party leader David Seymour takes the opportunity to condemn the press gallery for not breaking the story “because we all know that in the same circumstances, a member of parliament would have got wall to wall coverage night after night after night, don’t we?”
April 30, 2026
Speaker Gerry Brownlee suspends Sherman from parliament for five days following the Smith incident. The speaker’s office describes Sherman’s attempts to interview the MP as going “beyond the prescription and spirit” of the press gallery. The speaker acknowledges that other outlets also breached parliamentary rules while trying to report on the National Party’s caucus confidence vote on April 21. Sherman accepts the speaker’s ruling.
May 2, 2026
Media scrutiny of Sherman intensifies with reports that she has withdrawn from the prime minister’s trip to Singapore. TVNZ declines to say whether it or Sherman has made that choice.
May 8, 2026
Sherman resigns from TVNZ, describing her position as “untenable”. In a statement published to social media, she writes: “There is no excuse for the language I used… From my own perspective and for context, my comment was made in response to deeply personal and inappropriate remarks made to me that evening. This does not excuse my actions, I took responsibility for that a year ago, it is merely to help others understand why I reacted in the way that I did.”
“The level of scrutiny on me this past week has been unprecedented and this has placed enormous pressure on me. My role has become untenable and so I am finishing up with TVNZ today. I wish the team well.”
May 11, 2026
Opposition politicians accuse the government of chasing Sherman out of parliament, with Green MP Hūhana Lyndon saying the right came to “hunt her down”.
