Don Burke’s bizarre claims over Asperger’s, witch-hunts and affairs in defence to sleazy allegations
TV veteran Don Burke last night admitted he’s “not a good person” and “drove people hard” — but denied he was a sexual predator and put down accusations of misconduct from several women as nothing more than a “social media witch hunt”.
NSW
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FACING multiple accusations he used his star power to harass and bully women for years, Don Burke looked down a TV camera last night and claimed he was an Asperger’s sufferer who made enemies and mistakes because he couldn’t read body language.
A former Logie-winning presenter, Burke used an interview on his old network to claim he was the victim of a “witch hunt” and paying for the sins of his Channel 9 past.
The under-siege star told A Current Affair’s Tracy Grimshaw he had “no recollection” of explicit claims of predatory workplace harassment, but denied categorically he was guilty of the litany of lewd, lecherous misconduct charges levelled against him in media reports yesterday by a series of women who worked with him on his long-running show Burke’s Backyard.
“I’m not that man at all,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of failings. Some of these things are despicable.”
Burke said he could not recall exchanges from 30 years ago, but bizarrely claimed he had diagnosed himself as suffering from Asperger’s syndrome, which made it hard to read social signals.
“I am happy to say to the people of Australia: this is my story, make up your mind if I’m the most evil person that’s ever lived, that’s your decision,” Burke said.
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“If you can forgive me for the stupidity and the other things I have done then I am very grateful, but I think that’s their decision not mine.
“I have looked in the mirror and there’s a lot I don’t like. But that’s up to the people of Australia to decide can they forgive me or not.”
During the interview Burke claimed the flood of allegations against him had been made because he was an unpopular figure during his time on Channel Nine and his accusers — in light of the recent domino effect of the Harvey Weinstein saga — had seen this as their chance to “nail” him.
“A lot of people don’t like me. And they can’t all be wrong,” he said, admitting carrying out a string of “affairs” while married to wife Marea, who had battled breast cancer.
“I think I’ve got a bit to apologise for to my family and also to the people who supported Burke’s Backyard. There are things I’ve done that I’m not at all proud (of).”
The TV presenter said he denied making misogynist and “sleazy” comments. He said he and his colleagues ran “an anti-misogynist ship” at the Burke’s Backyard office.
Grimshaw said she had been told by a producer that Burke had claimed to be a “geneticist” and if he procreated with a young family member the child would have the “perfect gene pool”.
Burke replied: “That’s ridiculous — for start I’m an Asperger’s person and have a lot of other failings genetically. I would never say that, it is just disgusting.”
When pressed by Grimshaw about his claimed condition, he replied that he had diagnosed himself because of his behaviour with other people: “I miss all their body language and often the subtle signs that people give to you like ‘back off, that’s enough’.”
Burke also repeatedly referenced the Weinstein harassment scandal for helping fuel a “witch-hunt” while he also denied being a sex predator.
“If I had done it I would have admit to it now. I am in a frame of mind where I am sick of all this. It would be far less painful for me to say ‘yeah I did that’. But I didn’t.”
The Daily Telegraph confronted Burke at the front of his rural property in rural Kenthurst on Thursday, where he refused to answer questions on the topic.
“No, you’re not talking to me,” he said.
Former Nine news boss Peter Meakin said bullying used to be endemic at the network but the extent of the alleged sexual misconduct by Burke had come as a surprise.
“Don Burke was undoubtedly valuable to Nine but he was not untouchable. I believe on the balance of probabilities that someone did speak to him about his conduct then.”
Those people would have been the former chief executive officers of Nine, David Leckie and his predecessor Sam Chisholm, he said.
Leckie, who has described Burke as a “horrible man”, could not be contacted for comment last night.
Chisholm, who described Burke as a “terrible grub”, said that he stuck by his comments that “probably” someone had complained to him about Burke at the time but he could not recall because it was so long ago.
The lewd claims that emerged yesterday reportedly came from more than 50 people who worked with Burke in the late 1980s and 1990s.
Earlier he issued a statement foreshadowing legal action against his detractors: “The bitter irony is that I have had a lifelong opposition to sexism and misogyny.”
NSW Police confirmed no formal complaint had been made to them and no active investigations were underway in relation to the allegations against Burke.
However, Nine described the allegations against Burke as “extremely serious”.
While produced by Burke’s company CTC Productions, Burke’s Backyard was based in one of the cottages on Nine’s Willoughby site. “The allegations are extremely serious; the behaviour described is completely unacceptable and would not be tolerated at Nine today,” the network said.
Burke’s Asperger’s claim angers group
IN one of the most surreal claims in his A Current Affair interview last night that drew strong derision from, Autism Awareness Australia, Don Burke claimed that he would never have talked about having sex with a family member to create a genetically blessed child — because he had Asperger’s syndrome.
In an even stranger twist, when he was pressed by veteran interviewer Tracy Grimshaw on the shocking revelation of the condition, he confessed that he had not actually been medically diagnosed — he had simply worked out his “condition” himself.
Heads up to the media...Aspergers / Autism is not your 'go to' diagnosis for this kind of behaviour/crime. Actually, it is quite the opposite. Get smart and question this nonsense. @ACurrentAffair9 @smh @abc730
— Autism Awareness Aus (@AutismAwareAus) November 27, 2017
Autism Awareness Australia is sickened tonight by Don Burke's excuse of undiagnosed Aspergers as a reason for his appalling behaviour. What kind of human sinks this low?https://t.co/jH02jrH8FW
— Autism Awareness Aus (@AutismAwareAus) November 27, 2017
The exchange began when Ms Grimshaw said she had been told by a producer that Mr Burke had claimed to be a “geneticist” and if he procreated with a young family member the child would have the “perfect gene pool”.
“I don’t understand, you are talking about incest, certainly not, and I don’t believe that about myself,” Burke said.
“That’s ridiculous — for a start I’m an Asperger’s person and have a lot of other failings genetically. I would never say that — it is just disgusting.
“I haven’t been medically diagnosed but I’ve worked out that’s what I’ve got and what it is, it’s a terrible failing ... I suffer from a terrible ... of not seeing.”