A children’s birthday party in ritzy Vaucluse that descended into a shouting match between a straight-talking pony operator and a prominent real estate agent has become the talk of society mums in Sydney‘s east.
But the viral video at the centre of the bizarre stoush – seen below – only tells one side of the story.
The extraordinary footage, captured last month, shows ride operator Danielle Plaskitt in a fiery standoff with party host and star of Amazon Prime Video series Luxe Listings D’Leanne Lewis.
Lewis had arranged via a party planner for Plaskitt’s pony and ‘unicorn’ events business, My Pony Party, which she operates with husband Richard, to provide animal entertainment for her three-year-old daughter Lyra’s birthday in Kimberley Reserve on September 28.
It was meant to be a happy day for Lyra, her older sisters and their friends, with the parents enjoying drinks at a bar set up nearby while award-winning photographer Nadine Saacks caught the special moments on camera.
But according to Plaskitt – who Daily Mail spoke to exclusively as she operated pony rides at the Gymea Village Festival on Sunday – things went wrong from the start.
Lewis, 53, a principal of Laing & Simmons Double Bay, posted footage of their subsequent clash to Instagram – where she has a reach of 70,000 followers – portraying Plaskitt as hostile and impatient.
Both women – plus the photographer and party organiser – have now shared their side of the story with Daily Mail.
A children’s birthday party in Vaucluse descended into a shouting match between a straight-talking pony operator and famous real estate agent D’Leanne Lewis, seen with daughter Lyra
Extraordinary footage shows ride operator Danielle Plaskitt in a fiery standoff with party host D’Leanne Lewis, seen left after lifting her daughter Lyra off one of the show ponies
Lewis, a principal of Laing & Simmons Double Bay, posted footage of their clash to Instagram – where she has 70,000 followers – which portrayed Plaskitt as hostile and impatient
Danielle Plaskitt of My Pony Party opened up about the Vaucluse stoush to the Daily Mail as she gave pony rides to children at the Gymea Village Festival in southern Sydney on Sunday
The outburst by Plaskitt – who hails from Sydney’s semi-rural northwest – was undeniably caught on camera.
What caused it, and whether her reaction was justified, depends on who you believe – and recollections certainly do vary.
In the video, Plaskitt could be seen shouting while gripping the lead of a white pony – named Flower – as Lewis lifted daughter Lyra off the saddle.
‘Get away from my ponies now and take your kid with you,’ Plaskitt yelled.
Other party guests watched the clash unfold, with some parents attempting to distract their children with talk of jumping castles.
Another clip shared by Lewis showed the pony operator visibly agitated, stuffing helmets into a bag as Lewis handed her a mobile phone, which Plaskitt told me had professional events organiser Mary Ronis on the other end.
In the background of that clip, parents can be heard tut-tutting, ‘I wouldn’t let my son go to be honest’, and, ‘I think that the kids are a bit scared of her.’
While speaking on the phone with Ronis, Plaskitt was seen shaking her head vigorously with her hand on her hip as the conversation escalated.
Plaskitt, who operates My Pony Party across Sydney, claimed she and her staff were treated in rude and unacceptable ways from the moment she parked her horse float in Vaucluse
Lewis, already a high-flying real estate agent, became a TV celebrity when she joined the cast of Amazon Prime Video series Luxe Listings Sydney. She is seen at the 2022 AACTA Awards
Lewis once said that being a woman in a male-dominated industry meant she had to work ‘three times as hard’ to succeed
Plaskitt told Daily Mail she hadn’t even watched the videos Lewis posted on Instagram, but warned that if the accompanying comments were ‘libellous [she] would take her to court’.
On the post, still visible on Lewis’ Instagram page, the high-profile realtor wrote: ‘So THIS happened today at my daughter’s 3rd birthday party.
‘This lady from My Pony Party turned up late – left her daughter lying on the floor while she proceeded to swear at the parents including me… as well as the kids.
‘When we asked her to stop she just kept yelling and swearing at the kids! My daughter Lyra and Myka in tears… Unacceptable!
‘Thankfully she left but [the] damage was done. I would never ever recommend using these people. They should be banned from kids’ parties.’
Lewis then went on to thank her event organiser, Mary, for ‘saving the day’ by drafting in another pony ride company at the last minute.
Plaskitt offered a very different account of what led up to the clash, telling Daily Mail she had been subjected to the sort of rudeness she rarely encounters when hiring out her ponies for parties, as well as people being ‘obstructive, difficult and nasty’.
Lewis, the photographer Ms Saacks and party planner Ms Ronis also spoke with us about the events leading up to the chaotic blow-up.
Plaskitt (above at Gymea Village Festival on Sunday) claimed some at the Vaucluse party had been ‘obstructive, difficult and nasty’
Lewis claimed Plaskitt arrived an hour late, despite having been parked outside the venue with her horses for some time.
‘We walked up to the party, and walking up to the party I see this lady pull up in a trailer with the horses,’ she said.
‘We’re so excited. We’re like, “Hi, are you here for the party?” She was [grumbling]. I was like, “Okay, she’s obviously busy. It’s okay.”
‘An hour later, she’s still not there [at the party], but she’s still parked in the same spot.’
But according to Plaskitt, it wasn’t like that at all.
She says she arrived on time at Kimberley Reserve and found there was nowhere to park her vehicle and horse trailer – a clear condition in her business’ terms and conditions – so ‘I had to stop in a bus stop’.
‘I tried to park elsewhere, but it’s Vaucluse,’ she explained.
‘It’s in our Terms and Conditions, which are agreed to when the booking is made, that they have to provide parking.’
Plaskitt claims she faced hostility from the start because of how she secured the animals.
‘Before I even got in there, I was told off. I was already being attacked when I just tied up the ponies to a fence,’ she told Daily Mail.
‘One of the mothers… told me I was being cruel to the ponies letting flies land on them and tying them up in the sun.’
‘Horses have a tail and they use it to flick away flies,’ Danielle added, rolling her eyes. ‘Really, I’ve been doing this for 45 years.’
Plaskitt said she suggested to Lewis that the horses stay in the shade, but the birthday girl’s mother had other ideas, perhaps wanting them in the light so the photographer could better capture the event.
Plaskitt alleges that ‘passive-aggressive’ comments started early, and that she got the impression some adults just wanted to ‘dump the kids and go to the bar’ where a group of parents were already drinking.
An exasperated Plaskitt (above, with pony Flower) decided to leave the Vaucluse park after realising the situation had become unsalvageable. Another pony operator was then organised
Plaskitt arranged the children into two lines, according to their ages and sizes, with ‘different-sized ponies for the over-5s and the under-5s.
‘There were bigger kids attempting to go in the under-5s line, and there was this little one standing in the bigger line.
‘I said, “You can go on the little ones.” I didn’t realise then that she wanted to go on a bigger horse or that she was the birthday girl [Lyra].
‘But then [a woman] became passive-aggressive and said, “This is so unprofessional. Children should be allowed to do what they want.” I said, “No, I am not legally a child carer. I’m operating the ponies.”‘
Meanwhile, according to Plaskitt, Lyra ‘had run away to her mother, and then Mum came back and got bitchy with me’.
Plaskitt tried to defuse the situation, going off to search for Lewis’ friends to explain the situation about having different horses for bigger and smaller children, and that, in her opinion, Lewis ‘was behaving badly’ towards her and her staff.
‘Her friend said, “I will talk to her,” but when I came back, my youngest staff member was in tears and said, “They took the pony and wouldn’t give it back.”‘
Plaskitt claimed by this time Lewis ‘had her little daughter on Flower and was leading it around so the photographer could shoot it.
‘I just told her that’s against the terms and conditions and can be dangerous.’
Plaskitt, who has been working with horses ‘all my life’, was gobsmacked when she was chided by one of the Vaucluse mothers upon arrival for the fact that flies were settling on the ponies
Plaskitt said she was then verbally attacked by a party guest and told she had made Lyra cry – which she outright denies.
‘It wasn’t me who made the little girl cry,’ said Plaskitt, ‘and that’s when all that happened [recording the confrontation]. I was standing with my back to her, trying to set things right.
‘She started having a go at me [on the phone] to Mary Ronis, saying that I was crazy. I didn’t really get upset but I was a bit annoyed by that point.’
It was at this point that Plaskitt said to Lewis, ‘Please remove your child and get away from my ponies,’ and took Flower back by her lead.
While subsequently on the phone to Ms Ronis, she tried to explain the sequence of events and how she ‘would not stand for people being rude or disrespectful.
‘After all that, I said, “Stop the pony rides. It’s not going to work in hostile conditions.”‘
Plaskitt was told there was ‘too much water under the bridge’ by that stage, and Ronis would organise another pony ride operator to take over the party.
Danielle was filmed speaking on the phone with event organiser Mary Ronis, who was later tasked with organising a replacement pony operator for the birthday party at the last minute
Plaskitt’s claims that Lewis had been dismissive and rude to her and her staff during the event were challenged by the event’s photographer.
Nadine Saacks denied that Lewis had made any negative remarks to or about Plaskitt – but did confirm that tensions escalated when Plaskitt separated the children in two lines to ride the ponies, while Lewis preferred all the kids to queue up together.
Saacks said Lewis was helping organise the kids when Plaskitt ‘came back, moved the kids to another section, and started saying, “You’re not listening!”
‘I said, “Excuse me, please don’t yell at the children.”‘
Lewis told the Daily Mail that while Plaskitt was trying to line up the under-5s, most of them were still busy on the jumping castle. So she suggested letting any child who was ready take a turn, rather than dividing them by age.
‘That’s when she just lost it,’ Lewis said. ‘She stormed off yelling, “I’ve had enough!”‘
‘She goes up to the party room, which is where a lot of the people were and the food was in, and she’s screaming at everyone,’ she added.
With tensions running high, Lewis and one of the dads at the party took matters into their own hands by leading the ponies around themselves while photographer Saacks captured the moment.
It was then that Plaskitt returned and became visibly frustrated – as seen in the dramatic footage posted to Lewis’ Instagram.
According to Saacks, Plaskitt ‘was swearing’ at Lewis, ‘calling her b***h’ and telling her to ‘shut up’.
‘She came marching in, in a very foul mood, and the kids were all waiting to have their turn. Some had their riding helmets on and everything, and out of nowhere she started screaming,’ Saacks added.
Speaking to Daily Mail, Plaskitt admitted to calling Lewis ‘a b***h – and I don’t apologise for it’, but insisted it was only after Lewis ‘refused to take the little girl off the pony when asked’.
According to Lewis’ version of events, Plaskitt began ‘screaming’ and ‘that’s when I picked Lyra up off the pony – and this lady, she swore at me, she swore at my seven-year-old daughter, Myka, who ran off crying.
‘These kids, most of them have never seen anybody act like that.’
This is another point of contention. Plaskitt acknowledges she lost it at Lewis but maintains she never yelled at any children and believes that Myka began crying because of her mother.
Lewis, who paid $695 for the pony ride service, then called her party planner, Mary Ronis, to ask: ‘What the f*** is going on?’
Ms Ronis also spoke with Daily Mail about the incident, but said she didn’t witness anything in person and had only heard what Plaskitt and Lewis had to say via phone.
‘I wasn’t there. Basically, I set up the party and then I left. Then I got a phone call saying that there was an altercation,’ she said.
‘I went back there, but by the time I got there, [My Pony Party] had already left.’
Ronis went on to say that all she could do was organise for another pony ride operator and gave Lewis a full refund.
‘I’m in charge of styling and coordinating the party. I just didn’t want it to be a complete disaster,’ she added.
‘So I just wanted to save it and do whatever I could to make it feel more positive rather than negative. Once I got there, everybody was pretty shaken.’
Lewis said the entire altercation was ‘really awful’ and ‘probably the worst experience I’ve ever had in terms of kids’ parties’.
On this point, at least, both parties seem to be in agreement.
Plaskitt said that, from her side, it was her worst experience as a party operator.
It turns out the only thing harder to wrangle than a pony is a park full of demanding eastern suburbs parents.
