In a bid to restore his reputation after being accused of sexual harassment by several former female employees, veteran television presenter Don Burke told the nation yesterday he is innocent of the “sexy and sleazy stuff”. And that he also has self-diagnosed Asperger’s Syndrome.
Yet, the 70-year-old former host of Channel Nine’s Burke’s Backyard, who was the subject of an investigation into sexual harassment from Fairfax and the ABC made public yesterday, has never before spoken about being on the autism spectrum and admitted he’s not received a medical diagnosis.
Appearing on A Current Affair last night, Burke mentioned Asperger’s after he was asked if he’s ever joked about incest.
Journalist Tracy Grimshaw told Burke she’d personally heard from a co-worker how he’d once claimed to have “the perfect genes” and that if he reproduced with a particular family member they’d make a “genetically perfect baby”.
On this bonus episode of Out Loud, Holly, Rachel and Jessie discuss Don Burke and ask the question – what happens next?
In an attempt to deny the allegation, Burke told Grimshaw he doesn’t actually think his genes are “perfect’.
“For a start, I’m an Asperger’s person,” he said. “And I have a lot of failings that are genetic.”
When Grimshaw asked Burke why he’s never previously spoken about having Asperger’s, Burke said he’s always struggled “looking people in the eye” and misses social cues.
Top Comments
This is the act of man that is scrambling to get away from this whole mess as much as possible. It's interesting that much of his pattern of power driven behaviour & ego boosting, "you know who I am," nonsense, is around those who are largely younger & in positions where they are vulnerable, easily replaced or easily manipulated, he at some level realised that the culture that Channel 9 had going on at that time, meant that he could largely get away with this behaviour. Which is interesting as Ita Buttrose stated she never saw any of that at 2UE, she I would imagine by that stage had a lot of power & a massive reputation as a no nonsense kind of woman, there is no way I would suggest that she wouldn't call him out on his predatory behaviour, so I would suggest that he knew that he would never be able to get away with any of that sleazy behaviour while he was working with her, which shows intention & an awareness on his part around his behaviour. So Asperger's, is highly unlikely, but also using a crutch to try & protect his awful reputation. He's someone who got so caught up in his own image that he started to believe he was far better than he actually was. There are too many story's out there to be conspiracy theories. Joe Hildebrand like a lot of other men are trying to justify their opinions of him, as they know it's impossible to defend the indefensible, but may be have been guilty of behaving just like Don in the past....
You could be onto something there. The women who said they didn't notice were women who had more power or more of a profile e.g. Kerri Anne Kennerley and Tziporah Malkah/Kate Fischer (who was the boss's daughter in law).
Totally disgusting scheming predator.
Oh Don, the reason you “miss social cues” and “fail to look people in the eye” is because you are a self-involved narcissist who is deceitful and lies....not “Asperger’s”. What an appalling insult to people on the spectrum and those who spend years studying to diagnose and care for those who are!