Don Burke’s Asperger’s excuse: ‘What kind of human sinks this low?’

VIEWERS and experts have slammed Don Burke’s bizarre ACA interview, as host Tracy Grimshaw admits he surprised her.

A CURRENT Affair host Tracy Grimshaw has spoken out about last night’s bizarre interview with embattled TV presenter Don Burke, saying she thought he would be “more accountable” towards the allegations against him.

In last night’s interview Burke said he had much to be sorry for — including a series of affairs — and conceded he was not easy to work with on his long-running program Burke’s Backyard.

But the 70-year-old denied the allegations of sexual harassment and bullying made by a number of women who worked with him in the 1980s and 1990s.

Burke’s responses during the interview copped heavy criticism from viewers. He blamed the “Twittersphere” for stirring up a “witch hunt”, and at one point offered the developmental disorder Asperger’s as an excuse for bad behaviour, despite conceding that he had not been formally diagnosed with the syndrome.

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

"I miss all their body language ... their subtle signs" Don Burke blames inability to read consent on undiagnosed autism. This is a trainwreck. How insulting to people with Aspergers. #ACurrentAffair #9ACA

— Emily Ritchie (@emritchiejourno) November 27, 2017

Don Burke says he has diagnosed himself with Aspergers "I worked it out, that's what I've got" #DonBurke

— Ketan Joshi (@KetanJ0) November 27, 2017

As a mental health worker, Don Burke's self-diagnosis of Aspergers is insulting and abhorrent. Shame on you!! #DonBurke #metoo

— Kara Miller (@KaraMiller92) November 27, 2017

OK Don Burke threw people with Asperger's under the bus and now he says he hasn't even been medically diagnosed with it. #aca

— Rick Morton (@SquigglyRick) November 27, 2017

Others pointed out that Burke’s Asperger’s self-diagnosis had echoes of Kevin Spacey’s recent coming out when forced to confront allegations of sexual misconduct:

Don Burke's "I have Asperger's" is a new and terrible innovation on "I choose to live now as a gay man". #ACA

— Tim Matthews (@TimPMatthews) November 27, 2017

Um did Don Burke just throw people with Aspergers under the bus? Is this the Kevin Spacey coming out moment? https://t.co/KZceJCvzFG

— Rudi (@RudiEdsall) November 27, 2017

a twitter witch hunt, I’ve had affairs, self-diagnosed Aspergers, i’d never say those things & who recalls what happened 30 years ago - the #donburke response https://t.co/GOgijNtNQ9

— Nathaniel Bane (@natbane) November 27, 2017

Don Burke on ACA just blamed the ‘Twittersphere’ for ‘stirring up’ allegations.

— Dale Roberts (@ozdale) November 27, 2017

In an interview on The Today Show this morning, Grimshaw said she was surprised by the “level of denial” Burke displayed.

“I thought that he would be more accountable when I sat down with him. I didn’t expect the level of denial that we got. So he was prepared to say, ‘Look, I terrified people. I was a tough boss, I was a bear with a sore head. Maybe I bullied people.’ He drew the line at the language that he was accused of using. He just couldn’t countenance any admission that he had done that,” Grimshaw told Today co-host Deborah Knight this morning.

Grimshaw’s post-interview discussion came as a second wave of allegations hit Burke this morning, with Olympian Susie O’Neill accusing the former Channel 9 presenter of making a revolting insult to her when he visited her home in the lead-up to the Sydney 2000 Games.

“I think Don was a master of the universe in an era when there were no HR departments, it was an era when egos ran rampant,” Grimshaw said.

Tracy Grimshaw reflects on last night's controversial Don Burke interview.

“I think he probably knows that now. In admitting that he made enemies, he was mean to people, he’s understanding there is hatred. He is understanding he did things that inspired this kind of hatred. He is admitting that. I think that that was an era when everybody could get away with this stuff.”

Grimshaw said that she’d known Burke professionally for “20-odd years” and that he had “never crossed the line” with her — but that she had heard talk of improper behaviour.

“I’ve had lots of professional interactions him and he has never crossed the line with me. I can’t remember ever thinking, ‘That was too far, that was too much,’ so he didn’t do it with everybody. I have heard the stories. I have never heard the stories the way they were presented yesterday obviously in the media,” she said.

Knight asked Grimshaw what Burke had been like behind the scenes of their interview.

“Privately, he indicated that there were grievances with some of his accusers. He wasn’t prepared to air those grievances publicly. I did say to him at one point in the interview, ‘If you have a defence here Don, now is the time to say it, because these people are coming forward. If you have a defence say it now.’ He said, ‘I won’t do it.’ Now, you can read into that what you like, but he didn’t want to do it. That’s the only thing that was said privately we didn’t air,” she revealed.

"I thought that he would be more accountable when I sat down with him. I didn't expect the level of denial that we got." #9Today pic.twitter.com/HIVG0YnYJu

— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) November 27, 2017

Speaking on the Kyle and Jackie O Show this morning, Grimshaw said Burke’s Aspergers self-diagnosis had shocked her.

“That was a big surprise – the one thing that came from left-field. I think it’s unfair to suggest that Aspergers even is in play here, because he’s self-diagnosed. It’s also unfair to suggest that it’s in any way to blame for his behaviour – that casts a terrible slur on people with Aspergers,” she said.

Grimshaw said she suspected Burke had expected her to “be a bit more sympathetic,” and said that his wife Marea has been “terribly unwell – she got a neurological condition, then an aggressive breast cancer.”

“She’s tough but fragile, is my reading of Marea. Her health is particularly fragile. She said to me before the interview that he would say that he’s had affairs, but that they’ve sorted it out, they’re fine with it. He’s virtually Marea’s carer nowadays. Don is not the titan he was.”