Deborah Hutton tells of her alleged sexual harassment encounter with Don Burke
AUSTRALIAN TV presenter Deborah Hutton is the latest person to come forward with her own encounter of alleged sexual harassment involving Don Burke.
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AUSTRALIAN TV presenter Deborah Hutton is the latest person to come forward with her own encounter of alleged sexual harassment involving Don Burke.
According to The Australian, Ms Hutton alleged Don Burke sexually harassed her during a visit to her Sydney home.
The former editor of the Australian Women’s Weekly and model alleged the incident took place in the late 1990s at her Bondi Beach apartment.
Ms Hutton, who was working at Channel Nine has alleged the host of Burke’s Backyard made inappropriate sexual remarks to her as crew members were present.
“We were sitting down on the couch to record the chat and he made some disgusting sexual remark that I couldn’t quite believe at the time and I couldn’t get him out the door quick enough,” she told The Australian.
“He was a powerful predator.”
She described him as the “lifestyle king of Channel Nine”, who she never wanted to be left alone with.
“I knew one day it would eventually all come out about the Don,” Ms Hutton told The Australian.
“You never wanted to be left alone with him, his inappropriate actions around women were widely known.
“Everybody was aware of it but he was the lifestyle king of Channel Nine, the Logie winner, the bread maker, and the powers that be all turned a blind eye.”
Ms Hutton said she was under contract at Nine at the time and felt she couldn’t speak out.
“I felt I had to shut up and made the decision to avoid him in future. An absolute creep,” she told The Australian.
While she can’t recall his exact words Burke used, she said it was similar to what Olympic swimming champion Susie O’Neill had experienced.
News Corp Australia has contacted Burke’s lawyers, Kennedy’s Australia, for comment.
Originally published as Deborah Hutton tells of her alleged sexual harassment encounter with Don Burke