A Wall Street Journal report has leveled accusations of racism and misogyny at Wayne Borg, head of the media hub at Neom, Saudi Arabia’s futuristic megacity in-the-making.
According to the report published Wednesday, Borg – an Australian who is a former Fox Studios executive in Los Angeles and in Australia – is alleged to have made several racist and discriminatory comments that were recorded.
In a statement to the Journal,Neom said that “Any allegations of wrongdoing and misconduct are thoroughly investigated. If any wrongdoing is substantiated, we take appropriate action.”
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The first instance reported by the Journal involves a situation in which Neom executives were dealing with issues raised by the deaths of three workers on the project.
“‘A whole bunch of people die so we’ve got to have a meeting on a Sunday night,'” Borg said on a phone call, according to a recording heard by Journal. The Journal reported that Borg described said the project’s blue-collar workers from the Indian subcontinent had been “f—ing morons” and “that is why white people are at the top of the pecking order,” the Journal reported.
The Journal report more broadly looks at several executives accused of engaging in inappropriate workplace behavior andfostering unsafe work conditionsin various sectors at Neom, the postmodern desert city known as “the Line” planned to run 105 miles and be powered solely by renewable energy.
The report alleges that Borg demonstrated a casual disregard for worker safety. ” ‘You can’t train for stupidity. The white blokes are at the top of the tree,” Borg is alleged to have said in the Journal report.
The Journal reportcited several other examples of alleged inappropriate workplace behavior and misogynistic statements made by Borg. It also referenced allegations made against several other executives connected to Neom.
Since taking on the job of running Neom’s media hub in 2019 Borg — whose official title at Neom is managing director of media, entertainment, culture and fashion Industries — has attracted a range of large-scale productions spanning from Rupert Wyatt’s long-gestating $150 million Hollywood tentpole “Desert Warrior,” starring Anthony Mackie and Ben Kingsley, to Rajkumar Hirani’s Bollywood blockbuster “Dunki” starring Shah Rukh Khan, and Saudi-owned MBC Studios’ 10-part fantasy series “Rise of the Witches,” the biggest TV series ever to be made in the region.
Representatives for Neom and for Borgdid not respond to repeated requests for comment to Variety on Thursday.
(Pictured: Wayne Borg)
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