Andrew O’Keefe got a raw deal.

In the modern day equivalent of being put in the stocks and pelted with rotten tomatoes, the Deal or No Deal host has been publicly humiliated for enjoying a few too many drinks in the lead-up to Christmas.

And I thought Easter was the time of year for crucifixions.

The bloke who filmed the hapless TV presenter, then allegedly accepted $25,000 ‘hush money’ from Channel 7, should be ashamed of himself.

In the background of the video, fellow revellers can be heard encouraging the paralytic O’Keefe to go back inside the Chapel Street nightclub for ‘one more round, one more beer!’

No-one offers to get him a taxi, or says “mate, I think you’ve had a few too many”.

It is predatory behaviour: targeting a weakened quarry, then entrapping it.

The media is likening the lawyer-turned-TV star to his uncle, The Wild One, Johnny O’Keefe.

It takes just a couple of minutes of watching the footage on the news.com.au website to realize Andrew is, if anything, The Mild One.

His greatest crime is profanity, admitting that he is “f…ed” after a bender to celebrate the end of filming for the year.

Oh – and some disparaging remarks about the sexual predilections of kiwi fruit growers.

“Big deal’, was the resounding message from bloggers on the news website.

In the words of Barbara Browning from the Central Coast, “Put your hands up if you have never made a mistake in your life. Give the poor guy a break.”

I’ve seen some incidents over the years that make O’Keefe’s gutter crawl look like a ladies’ tea party.

At the Logies, we take bets on which new soapie star will be the first to be rushed to hospital after taking too many drugs in the toilets.

Actually, the entertainment in the toilets is far more interesting than the turgid awards ceremony.

Then there’s the standard-issue groping of make-up artists and young producers that accompanies any TV Christmas party.

Often, bad behaviour by celebrities leads to a higher public profile and subsequent pay rise.

The man we all love to hate, Sam Newman, has reportedly signed a $3 million deal to stay on at The Footy Show, after saying that a female M-P was “worthy of coming on” and manhandling a mannequin dressed as football writer Caroline Wilson.

Behind the scenes, the stories and rumours are even more damning but, in true Boys’ Club style, what goes on tour stays on tour.

Legendary journalist Mike Willesee was drunk on air on the same network, Channel 9, which is now pillorying O’Keefe for his misdemeanour.

The network also went for the jugular last year when Channel 7’s head of News and Current Affairs Peter Meakin was being found guilty of drink-driving and dangerous driving, after failing to stop for a random breath test and speeding away from police.

I guess all’s fair in love and the ratings war.

“God if only I had a video for all the times I have witnessed a celebrity being pissed in a club or on the streets… but then again I wouldn’t be pathetic enough to even think about it or try and sell it because guess what – they are allowed to have lives too!” wrote Elissa of Camperdown.

It’s a salient lesson for us all: whether you’re a TV personality, C-E-O, truck driver, or family guy out for a night on the tiles, no-one is safe from Big Brother’s prying eyes.

TV weatherman Tim Bailey admits he’s becoming a recluse, sick of being goaded into fights in bars and nightclubs by groups of blokes, armed with mobile phones to catch any ensuing fracas.

The media, which so readily stands in judgement of those caught, rabbit-in-the-headlights, during a momentary lapse of reason, rarely turns the spotlight back on itself.

TV stations are notorious hot-beds of inappropriate behaviour, and the practice of paying shut-up money for sexual crimes, in one notable instance, rape, is alive and well.

The alleged offender in this case was never reported to the police, and still holds a high-profile radio gig.

Yes, binge drinking is a huge problem in this country, but Andrew O’Keefe’s crime is petty.

Channel 7 agrees, saying O’Keefe will continue hosting Deal or No Deal and Weekend Sunrise next year.

“Sure, it was embarrassing, but if you look at the footage no atrocity is committed,” one source said.

Not surprisingly (for a nation forged on rum), Aussies are united in raising a glass to the embattled star.

As Kristen of Dundas wrote, “Who really cares??? I too along with hundreds of thousands of others have been intoxicated and done something silly that I’ve regretted the next morning. Good on you Andrew, hope you had an awesome night!!!”

And so say all of us.

Disclaimer: Tracey Spicer has been known to have a few too many drinks and stumble along Chapel Street. Otherwise, she is a fine, upstanding citizen.