Tracy Grimshaw reveals what Don Burke didn't say
Tracy Grimshaw has revealed what happened behind-the-scenes of her interview with Don Burke for A Current Affair.
Last Monday, Don Burke denied various allegations of sexual harassment, indecent assault and bullying from ex-colleagues reported in an ABC/Fairfax investigation.
Grimshaw told The Australian she arrived at Burke’s home and was greeted by his wife Marea, who admitted that Burke had multiple affairs in the past, but they had reconciled and were willing to answer questions about it.
Two years earlier, Grimshaw interviewed the couple about Marea’s illness. Grimshaw decided not to mention Burke’s admission to affairs as she did not deem them “relevant” to the far more serious allegations against him.
The couple had known the investigation was coming for a month and Grimshaw said 70-year-old Burke was not looking well.
“I thought Don looked really crook,” she told the newspaper. “I think he looked very skinny. The pressure had taken a toll. He had time to prepare for it and probably a bit of time to worry about it.”
Grimshaw has known her fellow Channel Nine star professionally since the 1990s when she presented Today but clarified that he had “never crossed the line” with her.
“I have heard the stories,” she told the morning show last week. “I have never heard the stories the way they were presented yesterday obviously in the media.”
Grimshaw told The Australian that Burke “probably felt we had established a rapport and I would give him the most sympathetic hearing”.
Burke used the interview to deny the allegations made by his former co-workers, pinning the allegations on his swearing and being unfriendly at work. He also blamed the Harvey Weinstein scandal for creating a “witch hunt” and although he couldn’t remember what occurred 30 years ago, still denied the allegations saying, “that’s just not me”.
The following day of the interview, Grimshaw told Today that she was surprised by the “level of denial” he 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,” she said.
“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.
“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.
“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.
“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.”