It’s International Women’s Day (IWD) tomorrow (Friday 8 March), so in the true spirit of championing women’s equality, Formula 1 racing team Red Bull has suspended a women for being – wait for it – “dishonest” (yes, really) because she made allegations against its big boss.
Why let some allegations of inappropriate and controlling behaviour (that have not been tested in a court of law yet) get in the way of having a good, patriarchal time on IWD? At least not when you’re the cis, white, male (and allegedly sex-pest) executive of a major motorsports team.
Red Bull suspends woman over being “dishonest”. Yes, that old chestnut.
In February, a woman working for Red Bull Racing lodged a complaint of “inappropriate and controlling behaviour” against boss Christian Horner. Following an internal investigation, the company cleared Horner of the allegations.
The motorsports business hasn’t made information about the allegations or its internal investigation public. On Thursday 7 March, the mainstream media have now broken the news that Red Bull are suspending the woman who made these allegations.
As BBC Sports reported:
The woman who accused team principal Christian Horner of inappropriate and controlling behaviour has been suspended by Red Bull.
Horner denies the allegations, and Red Bull’s board dismissed the complaint after an internal investigation.
“The company cannot comment on this internal matter,” a Red Bull spokesperson said on Thursday.
BBC Sport has learned the reason given by Red Bull to the employee was that she had been dishonest.
The allegations first came into the public domain early last month.
Red Bull’s board made its decision to dismiss the matter last week after reading a report compiled by what the company have called an independent KC over several weeks.
The company have given no explanation for the decision nor have they revealed what the report contained or the lawyer’s name.
Institutionalised misogyny – just in time for International Women’s Day
Given that Red Bull failed to elaborate its reasons for the suspension, people took to X to call out what looks a lot like institutionalised misogyny. One poster called out other Formula 1 drivers for not speaking up:
We don’t know the story. However, because of the silence, on the face of it Red Bull have suspended a woman who reported controlling behaviour and the accused man in power stays put. So many drivers (the people with a voice) haven’t spoken up or called it “noise”. #F1 #IWD2024 https://t.co/ext18Cx2Vq
— Laura (@laura_libs) March 7, 2024
Naturally, calling a woman a liar over allegations against a powerful man rightly went down like a lead balloon on the eve of International Women’s Day (IWD):
it keeps getting worse.
but no please celebrate women’s day with stickers yesss 👏🏽👏🏽#RedBull #ChristianHorner https://t.co/44hjCFj75c— Shreya Sanjeev (@ShreyaSanjeev1) March 7, 2024
Anyone else waiting for #RedBull’s post for International Women’s Day tomorrow? Just so they can entrench their hypocrisy…
— Adam Fare 🖤🤍💜 (@adamfare1996) March 7, 2024
Seems fitting on eve of International Womens Day (#freemason brand) Red Bull chooses to suspend WOMAN who ACCUSES her MALE boss, Horner, of inappropriate & controlling behaviour.
Perfect way to remind us of male power.
–@nazirafzalhttps://t.co/JVZEsGCgOx#InternationalWomensDay— The Peoples Hub (@ThePeoplesHubUK) March 7, 2024
But don’t worry, as journalist Edward Hardy pointed out, Red Bull is a beacon of women’s equality. Just look – it named some cars after a few of its female employees:
On the day that Red Bull suspended Christian Horner’s accuser… https://t.co/5oAVwhczSX
— Edward Hardy (@EdwardTHardy) March 7, 2024
“You make a difference” but don’t speak up about sexism
Red Bull even went so far as to inscribe an empowering pep-talk – in small-print – to all its cherished female staff. It reads: “The incredible women on our team: you make a difference”. We’re sure that’s of great comfort to all women working for Red Bull right now.
Ladies, this company has your back. That is, until you leak messages revealing inappropriate sexual and coercive harassment.
Others highlighted that the suspension is exactly the kind of gaslighting and victim-blaming response from powerful organisations that stop women from being able to speak up against sexism in the workplace:
Red Bull suspending a woman who accused a man of sexual harrassment (whilst he himself was not suspended) is an interesting choice on International Women’s Day.
Message: don’t speak up woman. Know your place.
— Kirsty (@Kirsty44) March 7, 2024
red bull suspending the victim but letting christian horner waltz around the paddock like he’s done nothing wrong has not only taken everything from the victim but it’s taken everything from the women who work in this sport who can’t speak up if something similar happens to them
— martha ʚїɞ (@alessiarussos) March 7, 2024
So happy International Women’s Day 2024. It’s another year that a heavily male-dominated sport has failed at the first lap of its #MeToo moment. If it texts like a misogynist, races like a misogynist, it’s probably a misogynist – or Christian Horner and his sexist motorsports team.
Feature image via Rokt/Youtube screengrab
