A high profile WAG who was filmed snorting white powder from a plate at an illegal gathering during lockdown has been slammed during Melbourne’s Covid press conference, with a minister saying she should be ’embarrassed’.
Minister for Industry Support and Recovery Martin Pakula was questioned over a video circulating on social media which shows Nadia Bartel snorting what is believed to be an illegal substance at a party amid Melbourne’s lockdown.
During the state’s daily Covid-19 press conference on Saturday the minister said the incident was a matter for police to decide if Bartel would be charged but ‘serves as a warning to all of us’.
‘It’s not good that anyone flouts the rules, it makes it more dangerous for the entire community, it makes it more likely that these sorts of restrictions will be in place for longer,’ Pakula said.
‘The participants should be appropriately embarrassed,’ said Victoria’s Health Minister Martin Pakula at Saturday’s daily Covid-19 press conference
Nadia Bartel, 36, (pictured) had plain clothes police officers visit her $3m mansion on Friday after footage emerged of her sniffing white powder from a plate at an illegal gathering in Melbourne during lockdown
‘Obviously when it’s someone with profile … in some ways it makes it clearer that that sort of conduct is not acceptable.
‘The participants should be appropriately embarrassed.’
Under Victoria’s strict lockdown rules public and private gatherings are banned while the state battles the Delta variant outbreak which saw 190 new Covid-19 cases identified overnight.
Victoria police attended the 36-year-old AFL WAG’s $3million inner-city residence on Friday evening, hours after the video was accidentally uploaded to Instagram by Bartel’s friend and business partner, Ellie Pearson.
Two plain clothes police officers were seen arriving at Bartel’s home but were reportedly unable to make contact with her at the time.
Nadia Bartel (pictured) was visited by police on Friday, after she was filmed breaking Melbourne’s strict lockdown and snorting what is believed to be cocaine at a party on Thursday night, in a video which has gone viral
It comes as the Department of Health issued a statement saying it was ‘liaising with Victoria Police in relation to the alleged incident’.
Bartel broke her silence and issued an apology over the incident on Friday evening.
‘Hi everyone, I have let you all down by my actions. I take full responsibility and I am committed to taking all necessary steps to ensure I make better choices in future,’ she wrote in an Instagram post.
‘To my family and friends, my business partners and the public health workers trying to keep us all safe, I am embarrassed and remorseful.
‘I am truly and deeply sorry. I hope I can earn your forgiveness and, in time, your trust.’
Footage of Bartel snorting white powder off a plate at the gathering started going viral on Friday morning.
Breaking her silence in a post shared to Instagram on Friday afternoon, the 36-year-old mum of two wrote: ‘Hi everyone, I have let you all down by my actions. I take full responsibility and I am committed to taking all necessary steps to ensure I make better choices in future’
The video was accidently uploaded to Instagram by her friend and business partner, Ellie Pearson. The pair are pictured together buying wine before the party. ‘I’m just devastated,’ Pearson told The Herald Sun on Friday evening
In the video, Bartel is seen snorting the powder off a $1.50 Kmart plate being held by a dark-haired woman, as a third woman displays a two-fingered hand gesture in the background.
Nadia’s apology – which includes an appeal for forgiveness from health workers – appears to confirm the gathering was held on Thursday evening.
Fellow WAGs Bec Judd, Kylie Brown, celebrity stylist Lana Wilkinson and model Brooke Hogan have all publicly thrown their support behind Nadia by ‘liking’ her apology post on Instagram.
Private and public gatherings are not permitted in Melbourne, where Bartel lives, under Victoria’s Covid restrictions
The clip begins with the fashion and beauty influencer appearing to lean over the plate with a rolled-up banknote in her left nostril as she presses her right nostril. She then snorts the substance as one of the women watches on
Pearson, who filmed the viral clip, revealed she was remorseful over the incident.
‘I’m just devastated,’ Pearson told The Herald Sun on Friday evening.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Bartel for comment.
The video was mentioned at Premier Daniel Andrews’ daily coronavirus briefing on Friday.
Mr Andrews said he hadn’t seen the footage but stressed that all Victorians should follow the rules during lockdown.
‘I would urge everybody to do their very best to follow the rules, all of the time. I know it’s tough, I know it’s difficult,’ he said.
‘Beyond that, I don’t tend to comment on footage that I haven’t seen.’
Meanwhile, Bartel has turned off comments on her Instagram posts after the
embarrassing video was leaked.
Bartel has turned off comments on her Instagram after the embarrassing video was leaked
She is the ex-wife of retired AFL star Jimmy Bartel (right), a Brownlow Medallist who spent his career with the Geelong Cats. The couple split in 2019 after five years of marriage
Jimmy spent Thursday and Friday with the former couple’s two sons, Aston, five, and Henley, three, posting these updates on Instagram
Bartel is a mother of two and entrepreneur who runs the fake-tan company Spray Aus and clothing label Henne.
She is the ex-wife of retired AFL star Jimmy Bartel, a Brownlow Medallist who spent his career with the Geelong Cats.
The couple split in 2019 after five years of marriage.