KEY POINTS:
A TVNZ executive has stepped down from his position two months after he made offensive remarks at an industry awards event.
Commissioning manager Tony Holden resigned on Friday from his $300,000-plus job, but has scooped another lucrative position - heading popular celebrity dancing contest Dancing with the Stars.
The departure comes after Holden was disciplined for abusing peers at the Screen Production and Development Association awards dinner in November. Shortly after the incident, sources within TVNZ were reported as saying Holden's inappropriate comments would have "serious ramifications" for his job.
Industry sources have speculated for weeks that Holden was moving on, which TVNZ denied. Just two weeks ago, TVNZ communications adviser Robin Field said Holden was "on leave" from his high-powered position overseeing TV production funding worth about $50 million.
Field said at the time Holden "would be returning to work as normal shortly". Yesterday he said: "The guy is gone. He is gone. He has left and moved on."
Part of the exit deal between Holden and TVNZ places the executive in charge of producing the third series of Dancing with the Stars.
Asked to explain Holden's job shift, Field said: "I'm just not going to give you anything like that. It would be illegal and completely unethical to discuss."
TVNZ chief executive Rick Ellis did not return calls.
At his St Marys Bay, Auckland, home yesterday, Holden was unwilling to discuss his departure from TVNZ.
