Edwina Bartholomew apologises over 'devastating' tweet to Nine journalist

Edwina Bartholomew has reportedly ‘devastated’ Nine journalist Seb Costello with a divisive tweet that could spark legal action against the Channel Seven breakfast reporter.

The tweet in question was a response to Nine News Melbourne’s story regarding a security scare at the Victorian state parliament which was reported by Seb, the son of former Australian Treasurer Peter Costello.

The video snippet addressed reports a man threatened to set himself alight in a vehicle full of flammable liquids on Thursday, but the story didn’t truly blow up until Edwina posted a response to it at the weekend.

Edwina, who was on assignment in London and is currently pregnant with her first child, tweeted, “Surprisingly articulate for a (censored)”.

It is believed the tweet was deleted after just 50 minutes, and the words have been censored in screenshots for legal reasons.

Edwina has since made a public statement of apology.

“I was half asleep and on the other side of the world,” she told the Herald Sun.

“My apologies to Seb and all involved. No offence was intended and hopefully none was taken.

“It was clearly a mistake and the errant tweet has been deleted.”

Fans not happy

Eddie may have issued the apology, but fans aren’t having it with many arguing that the response wasn’t good enough from the morning host.

“What a load of crap, half asleep! You send a tweet, you know full well what you're doing. Take ownership of your tweet,” one woman criticised.

Another argued it was too little too late.

“Don’t do something you have to apologise for. An apology doesn’t always make it right,” another wrote.

Many suggested a sexist element to the apology and response so far.

“Just imagine if it was Seb that tweeted that about her,” a woman wrote on twitter.

“If a male journalist wrote this about a female journalist he would have been fired,” another agreed.

‘Legal action’ being considered

Though the exact words are unclear, the tweet has prompted enormous backlash online, with reports Channel Nine is considering legal action against the Sunrise reporter.

TV Blackbox reported the news that Nine was holding legal meetings about the Tweet, though neither Nine nor Seven have made any public statements about any legal action going forward.

Nine did acknowledge the Tweet in a statement to The Australian, labelling it ‘devastating’.

“Seb and Nine are devastated and shocked at the damaging and false nature of this personal attack on a public platform,” they said in a statement.

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