Oh Richard, isn’t it time you learned how to treat a lady?
As F1 ace Jenson Button accuses Branson of pawing his former girlfriend, SARAH VINE asks: has he ever known where to draw the line?
THERE has been much talk in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein allegations about the difference between sexual harassment and what is a misjudged, but ultimately harmless, amorous overture.
All over social media, women have been sharing their own stories of harassment via the hashtag ‘MeToo’, causing men everywhere to review their behaviour.
Some may have quietly concluded that next time they’ll keep their compliments to themselves; others are tying themselves in knots at the prospect of overstepping an invisible boundary down the pub. And many, I suspect, are just feeling awfully confused. One thing’s for sure: the politics of sex just got a lot more complicated.
I think there is something rather simplistic and narcissistic in reducing hugely complex and potentially criminal actions to a single hashtag. Many disagree, including U.S. campaigner and feminist Naomi Klein, who came out this week as being a victim. No doubt the debate will rage on.
What is undeniable is that most women are no stranger to inappropriate behaviour when it comes to the opposite sex. And sometimes it can emanate from the most unexpected of sources.
Take Formula One ace Jenson Button’s account of how Richard Branson once treated his former girlfriend, model Jessica Michibata, after he drunkenly approached the pair at celebrity haunt Nobu in Australia in 2009.
WRITING in his autobiography, Life To The Limit, Button, 37, said the inebriated Branson came over to their table and sat down uninvited. He alleged that the Virgin CEO started flirting with Michibata, by accusing her of staring at him.
‘Although Jessica was a model, she was quite shy, so this was making her feel uncomfortable,’ Button said. ‘Especially when Sir Richard followed up his blatant flirting by putting his hand on her face.’
‘“Hold on,” I said, “that’s enough. That’s well out of order.” But he was so hammered that he simply didn’t understand what the problem was.’
Button adds that Sir Richard later apologised and he acknowledged his bad behaviour publicly, confessing that the incident made him give up alcohol for six months afterwards.
Fair play; but if these pictures are anything to go by, does Branson have a few other women to apologise to? To my mind, he appears to have form when it comes to overstepping the mark.
Need someone to stuff a mobile phone down your bra? Just dial D for Dicky. A bottom-baring fireman’s lift? Bran’s your man. Rear-ending, lip-licking, upending, pant-baring, cleavagegazing, Jacuzzi-hugging: should anyone blonde, female, nubile and ideally between the ages of 21 and 30 wish to participate in any of the above activitiEs, Richard’s only too happy to help.
Some might find these Carry On-style antics harmless. But there is something in their frequency and the consistency of his modus operandi that, for me, ring alarm bells.
All too often, the women in question are beholden to him in some way. And I wonder if their rictus smiles in the photos hide a certain horror.
Add to that Branson’s lascivious expressions, his overpowering body language, the fact that he is often poking his tongue out — and it is clear that even for someone like me, who believes in giving men the benefit of the doubt, he is not quite up to speed with the respectful way to behave towards a woman.