He's the leader of a country and he just did WHAT?

Wondering why on earth everybody’s talking about #ponytailgate? We’ve got you covered.

John Key is New Zealand’s Prime Minister. He’s been in office since 2008, he leads the centre-right National Party — and his name is splashed all over international media today because of an incident involving a waiter and her ponytail.

If you’ve found yourself baffled by the headlines about this bizarre story today – or maybe you’ve just clicked on now because you’re mildly interested – we’ve got you covered. Here’s what you need to know about #ponytailgate:

A waitress anonymously reported that John Key repeatedly pulled her ponytail.

Yesterday, a woman anonymously wrote in a post on left-wing website the Daily Blog that Key repeatedly tugged on her ponytail while visiting the cafe at which she works.

“He would come up behind me when I was at the ordering terminal, tug on my hair and then pretend that his wife, Bronagh, had done it (much to her embarrassment), and she would tell him to stop it,” the waitress wrote.

“As he rounded the corner behind me he commented ‘that’s a very tantalising ponytail’.”

She added: “No one else had ever thought it was ok to walk into the cafe and pull the waitresses hair, so why did the Prime Minister think it was ok? My reasoning was simple, I could tell him that I didn’t like it – but I shouldn’t HAVE to.”

The waitress added that despite her objections, “the game continued” — and that Key again yanked at her hair in late March after making “scary, suspense sound effects, like the music from the movie Jaws.”

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The young woman added that after Key again tugged at her ponytail in March, she shouted at him, “Please STOP or I will actually hit you soon!” — a reaction that eventually prompted the Prime Minister to later return to the cafe and give her two bottles of pinot noir wine.

The anonymous author concluded: “I’m telling this story because I’m the only one who can and it seems he needs reminding that he’s not a god, he’s just a man.”

The anonymous waitress was soon identified.

The waitress was soon revealed to be Amanda Bailey, 26, who works at Rosie, a cafe in Parnell frequented by Key and his wife Bronagh.

Ms Bailey told the New Zealand Herald she had gone public because she “didn’t think it was appropriate behaviour” and didn’t feel she should put up with it.

“I expected more from him and I want the public to be aware,” she said. “I felt the actions weren’t those of a Prime Minister and I felt New Zealand should know that. It is because he is the PM that I went to the media.”

Key hasn’t denied the claims- but says his actions were ‘banter’.

Yesterday morning, Key apologised for the hair-pulling, saying it “was never his intention to make her feel uncomfortable” — but he also dismissed the hair-pulling as “a bit of banter”.

Speaking to media at Los Angeles airport, Key said there were “a lot of fun and games” and “lots of practical jokes” at the cafe, The Guardian reports.

Mr Key also told One News he had a “fun relationship” with staff at the cafe, where he was a regular, adding: “There’s always lots of horsing around and sort of practical jokes and that’s all there really was to it.”

Key also said he had apologised for his antics “when I realised she took offence” — and that when he gave her the wine and apologised, Baileytold him, “that’s all right, no drama”.

He admitted, however, that his actions were inappropriate in hindsight.

Critics are not impressed and have called the incident ‘sexist’.

Labour MP Annette King questioned why Mr Key didn’t cease his antics when it became clear they were inappropriate, 3News reports.

“His wife… on at least two occasions, according to the report, told him to stop it, that it wasn’t appropriate. If my husband said that to me in my political role, I’d certainly be taking notice of it,” she told TV3’s Paul Henry programme this morning.

New Zealand Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei called the behaviour “bullying”.

“New Zealanders know you can’t walk into a cafe and start tugging on someone’s hair, especially if they’ve told you they don’t like it,” she told media. “It’s a sign of how out of touch John Key has become when he can’t even monitor how inappropriate his personal behaviour is, and when people are not comfortable with how he is behaving.”

She added that the behaviour was “weird”.

Post continues after #ponytailgate social media gallery:

The National Council of Women described the repeated harassment of the cafe worker as “sexist” in an open letter to Mr Key.

“We are disappointed to learn of your unwanted touching of a cafe worker,” the letter reads. “This incident shows that you have crossed the line. You will now be aware of the impact — the worker described how vulnerable and embarrassed she felt.”

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So, what’s likely to happen next?

An official complaint will now be laid with the Human Rights Commission over Key’s hair-pulling antics.

Graham McCready says the complaint will be filed under Section 62 of the country’s Human Rights Act alleging bullying of a sexual nature in the work place, according to New Zealand’s 3News.

“This complaint is not only justified on the facts disclosed and admitted but is requirement to establish a prima facie case under the New Zealand Crimes Act of assault,” Mr McCready — a former accountant who previously took ACT Party leader John Banks to court — said, according to 3News.

What do you think should happen to Keys as a result of #ponytailgate?