Singer Hevenshe pulled out of her show on Thursday after Maanyung said he would not be performing, leaving Kingswood as the only band still playing a festival that Swillhouse had marketed “as a cultural phenomenon.”

Swillhouse chief executive Anton Forte stood down from the board of the Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association on Wednesday morning.

In an email to staff, patrons and suppliers later that night, Swillhouse said the investigation had painted a “distressing picture of Swillhouse and our workplace culture”.

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“Swillhouse is heartbroken that there have been instances where some of our current and former employees have felt unsupported, unheard or at risk,” it said. “We are fully committed to rebuilding any lost trust with each of you.”

Other major hospitality companies including Love Tilly Devine are now scrambling to contain the fallout across the industry by attempting to silence their workers.

On Wednesday, the company which runs Fabbrica in the CBD, Ragazzi, and Dear Sainte Éloise issued a warning via an all-staff email not to talk to journalists or post comments publicly on social media about the issue.

Good Food Guide 2023 sommelier of the year Bridget Raffal said not enough had been done in the industry to support victims of sexual assault and harassment.

Raffal said “there was very little incentive” for women to come forward.

“Hospitality is a small world and we all know each other, so women know if they make a fuss they might get fired or end up in a more hostile situation where they have to look elsewhere for employment,” Raffal said.

“They know their prospective employer is likely to call around … and they could be labelled as ‘hard work’.”

Raffal’s Women and Revolution gender advocacy group has partnered with the Australian Human Rights Commission to host a forum for women affected by workplace sexual harassment in September.

“People can be cynical about this and say that nothing will change, but this conversation and this information gathering will have a positive impact and inform policy change,” Raffal said.

“And when it does, it won’t be enough to say, ‘You tried,’ or, ‘You could have done better’.”

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