Gove in Weinstein rape joke row
THE Cabinet was dragged into the Harvey Weinstein row last night after Michael Gove had to apologise for a tasteless joke about the sexually depraved movie mogul.
Environment Secretary Mr Gove sparked uproar on social media after comparing being interviewed on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme to going into Weinstein’s bedroom.
‘You just pray that you emerge with your dignity intact,’ he said.
Theresa May’s vow to take ‘serious action’ against Ministers who behaved inappropriately fuelled calls last night for her to act against Mr Gove and other Ministers who have faced similar allegations in recent years, including:
Claims that Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon called a woman a ‘slut’ and that his ‘minder’ moved in to separate him from a Russian blonde he met while drinking at a Westminster cocktail party;
A text to a Tory friend by Brexit Secretary David Davis saying he wouldn’t kiss Labour’s Diane Abbott as ‘I am not blind’.
Mr Gove’s Weinstein joke was made when he appeared in a live Radio 4 Today broadcast. He told host John Humphrys: ‘Coming into the studio with you, John, is a bit like going into Harvey Weinstein’s bedroom.’
Edinburgh-born Mr Gove went on: ‘You just pray that you emerge with your dignity intact.’
Tory MP Anna Soubry accused him of belittling the suffering of Weinstein’s victims.
She tweeted: ‘It insulted victims of rape & other sexual assaults & perpetuated pathetic notion that these crimes are not to be taken seriously.’
Hours later, a repentant Mr Gove wrote on Twitter: ‘Apologies for my clumsy attempt at humour on R4 Today this morning – it wasn’t appropriate. I’m sorry and apologise unreservedly.’
Dozens of female film stars and former employees have accused Hollywood producer Weinstein of raping and molesting them, often in hotel rooms. He says any sexual relations were consensual.
It is not the first time that the Environment Secretary has made near-the-knuckle sexual remarks: a young Gove once enraged Rolling Stone Mick Jagger by joking about his private parts after they stood next to each other at urinals at an Oxford University event.
As a journalist on The Times, he once posed for a group photograph on a cold winter’s day – and told the photographer: ‘Hurry up, it’s so cold my **** has shrunk all the way up to my knee.’
The Mail on Sunday revealed three years ago that Sir Michael Fallon had allegedly called a woman a ‘slut’ in a bar.
Sources close to Fallon confirmed he had been drinking and had apologised
me.’ Ms Gordon, 36, said the Minister ‘blushed crimson and apologised profusely’. This newspaper established that the incident happened in 2010 in the Marquis of Westminster pub in Pimlico.
We also disclosed how Sir Michael faced further questions over a separate incident in 2013 in which his party ‘minder’ intervened to get him away from a Russian blonde after he gatecrashed a party. The episode took place at the Roux At Parliament Square restau- rant, owned by renowned chef Michel Roux Jr.
A witness said Sir Michael spent a large part of the evening with a tall, young woman in a figure-hugging skirt who said she was a Russian student. According to some reports, he was ‘swaying’ and touched her. The claims were rejected by friends of Sir Michael. His parliamentary aide, Tory MP Therese Coffey, was said to have ‘moved in on them and split them up.’ Fallon has been happily married to his wife Wendy for 30 years. The couple have two sons.
In February, this newspaper revealed how Brexit Secretary David Davis was caught up in a sexism row after saying he wouldn’t kiss Labour’s Diane Abbott as ‘I am not blind’. The rumpus came after he was said to have made a lighthearted attempt to embrace and kiss Ms Abbott in a Commons bar following a key Brexit vote. Ms Abbott told him to ‘ **** off!’ Afterwards, a Tory pal texted Mr Davis: ‘Cannot believe you made an attempt to give DA [Diane Abbott] a hug!’
Davis replied: ‘Didn’t. I whispered in her ear “Thanks for your vote” hence the “F off”. I am not blind.’
Accused of belittling suffering of victims