Veli Ngubane resigns after TikTok video reveals inappropriate behaviour at Cannes

Advertising agency Avatar has announced that Veli Ngubane has stepped down from his role as co-Chief Creative Officer, effective immediately.

“The Avatar leadership team, led by founder and Group CEO Zibusiso Mkhwanazi, will continue to lead the business with Phil Ireland appointed as sole Chief Creative Officer on an interim basis, ensuring uninterrupted service, creative excellence and continuity for our clients, our people and our partners,” read the statement.

Ngubane stepping down comes after a video of him harassing women, while inebriated in Cannes, was posted on TikTok. 

Avatar is one of South Africa’s biggest black-owned advertising agencies. Ngubane was previously engaged to TV presenter Palesa Tembe and was engaged to entrepreneur and “The Real Housewives of Johannesburg” star Nicci Lee Watson in 2016. The former couple has a child together.

Coco Bassey posted on TikTok and shared a storytime about the incident with Ngubane in Cannes.

“What would you do if a man approaches you at a work event and is highly inappropriate?” asks the woman in the video.

The women narrate that they were sitting when a man approached, walked up to them, and went back, doing this three times. 

“I was so confused cause, it’s a big festival conference type thing, so at first I couldn’t hear what he was saying and it wasn’t until K said he’s saying, ‘Rate me’. So he’ll like walk up to us, say ‘rate me ‘, and then walk back, walk up to us, say it again.

“Cause we didn’t, I guess, didn’t hear him the first couple times and do that again.”

The ladies notice the man also had a Cannes badge, telling them he was an attendee. Later during the conversation, they realise he is drunk.

They detail how the conversation went awkward with the man in question asking them to rate him and they responded, friendly, that he is a 10 

“Totally friendly, not flirty at all, he, like, walks back up to us and he’s like, are you sure? Are you sure? Because if I’m a 10, that means I can take you back to my hotel room, no questions asked.

The moment remained bizarre for the women, and after he said that, they decided to record the man, revealing his badge and name.

@cocobassey

no woman should ever be put a situation like this, esp at work 😐

♬ original sound – coco bassey 💋

In the clips, Ngubane is seen and heard telling the women he is drunk and needs to present an award, and then continues to harass the women by objectifying them and rating them on their looks.

“You can see that at a point in the conversation, I mentioned his job where he works, and you can see he starts flipping over his badge cause he knew what he was saying was so inappropriate.

“For me it was very disappointing to have this interaction and honestly, I felt quite sad after it because a lot of women go through this in the workplace. Nobody really wants to be objectified at work and also in such a disrespectful manner.”

Avatar in the statement further added that it holds all of its people to the highest standards of professional conduct. “We do not tolerate behaviour that falls short of those standards, and we act when it does.”