Twerking Dancers Hit Back At Criticism And Say They're Victims Of A Dodgy Edit

Footage from the commissioning of a new Australian warship went viral this week for a glaringly obvious reason.

The ABC aired footage of seven women dressed in red berets, crops and booty shorts in front of the HMAS Supply in Sydney over the weekend.

The vision seemingly showed the troupe doing a risqué routine in front of high-ranking members of Parliament, Governor-General David Hurley, Chief of the Defence Force Angus Campbell and many others.

Vision of these senior officials looking uncomfortably awkward while the dancers twerked, popped and did their thing was reshared by loads of people on social media.

But it's since been revealed that the clip shared by the ABC isn't exactly how the event on Sunday (April 11) went down in reality.

Truth is, this dance happened before the Governor-General had arrived. It's unclear which other dignitaries had arrived by the time the troupe got started.

Not only that, but there was a lot more to the routine than just twerking.

ABC

"We are very disappointed at the ABC's deceptive editing of their video piece which cut to guests and dignitaries who were not in attendance and shooting from angles which could not be seen by the audience,'' the group said in a statement to news.com.au.

"We found this very creepy and reflects more on the ABC's camera operator and their need to sexualise these women and their dance piece for their own gratification.

"These are the images appearing in the media and the ABC have a lot to answer for in making us feel threatened and exploited."

It's understandable the dancers are pissed their little routine has gone viral and captured headlines around the country.

It even caused upset in some government circles who were furious the troupe were permitted to do a routine like the one shown in front of some of the highest ranking people in Australia to help welcome a multi-billion dollar warship.

A senior ranking government source told the ABC: "The dancers are beside the point - we're meant to be a fighting force," the government frontbencher said. "A question worth pondering: what would Horatio Nelson think of this s**tshow?"

Liberal backbencher and former soldier Phillip Thompson added: "Standards in the ADF, and definitely when commissioning a ship, should be a little bit higher than that.

ABC

"We've got the CDF, we've got members of Parliament there, and the Governor-General's there, I don't think it's appropriate to be twerking."

Senator Jacqui Lambie told Channel 9: "I thought I was watching the Super Bowl there for a split second, I will be honest with you. Whoever made that call, it's an absolute shocker for goodness sake. It is not the time and place to have [that].

"Good on those young ladies for getting out there, but I tell you being half-clothed outside a war ship is probably inappropriate.

"You know, if that [decision was made by] the leadership in our Defence Force, god help our sons and daughters who are serving."

Looks like not everything is as it seems.

Topics: Australia

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

@stewartperrie