Fiona Bruce has been ‘hung out to dry’ by BBC bosses after she was accused of trivializing domestic abuse during a discussion about Stanley Johnson on Question Time.
The politics show host, 58, stepped back as an ambassador for the domestic abuse charity Refuge after facing backlash for intervening when claims were made about Johnson on Thursday night.
Bruce said she was “legally required to put into context” allegations that former Prime Minister Boris’s father broke his ex-wife’s nose.
But on Monday, the presenter’s friends said she had been “hung out to dry” by BBC producers, who say they had provided her with the line to defend herself against any defamatory claims. The Telegraph reports.
Bruce is understood to be “devastated” by the response to his intervention during the show, with allies now calling on the BBC to “better support his talent”.
Bruce said she was “legally required to put into context” allegations that former Prime Minister Boris’s father (pictured) broke his ex-wife’s nose.
Fiona Bruce said in a statement: “It is with real sadness that I have decided to step back from my role as an ambassador for the domestic abuse charity Refuge.”
He previously said in a statement that the words spoken during the show are not an expression of his own views, adding that he would never downplay domestic abuse.
The 58-year-old newscaster added: “I know domestic abuse survivors have been distraught by what I was asked to say on the air.” For that, I am deeply sorry.
I can’t change what I was asked to say, but I can apologize for the real impact that I can see it’s had.
“I have been a passionate advocate and activist for all survivors of domestic abuse, and have used my privileged position as a woman in the public eye to bring this issue to light, especially in my work over 25 years with Refuge.
“But after the events of the past week, I was faced with a storm on social media, much of which misinterpreted what I said and took the form of personal abuse directed at me.
‘The only people who matter in all of this are the survivors, they are my priority.’
Last week on Question Time, journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, who was on the panel, said the 82-year-old Johnson’s alleged history of violence was ‘on the record’ and claimed he was a ‘wife beater’. .
Last week on Question Time, journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, who was on the panel, said that Mr Johnson’s (pictured) alleged history of violence was ‘on the record’ and that he was a ‘thumper of wives’
Father Stanley and mother Charlotte. Boris, center, is pictured with his brother and sisters in the 1970s. Bower describes Stanley’s first marriage, to Johnson’s mother Charlotte, as violent and unhappy, quoting her as saying, “He broke my nose.” He made me feel like I deserved it’
Ms Bruce interrupted Ms Alibhai-Brown, telling the audience: “I don’t dispute what you are saying, but just to let everyone know what this is about, Stanley Johnson’s wife spoke to a journalist, Tom Bower , and said that Stanley Johnson had broken his nose and ended up in hospital as a result.
Stanley Johnson has not publicly commented on that. Friends of his have said that it happened, but it was something isolated.
Ms Bruce said she did not want the furor that followed the show to create a “distraction” for Refuge and that it had been a “difficult decision” to step back because she feels “very strongly” about tackling domestic abuse.
The Antiques Roadshow presenter added: “I will continue to be an active supporter, albeit from the sidelines for now.”
In a statement on Friday, the BBC said: “Domestic abuse is abhorrent, and we would never want to suggest otherwise.
“When serious on-air allegations are made against individuals or organisations, it is the job of BBC presenters to ensure that the context of those allegations, and any rights of reply by the individual or organisation, are conveyed to the audience, and this is what Fiona Bruce was doing last night.
“She was not expressing any personal opinion on the situation.”
Refuge thanked Ms Bruce for her ‘considerable contribution’ to his work over the years, but acknowledged that while the words the BBC presenter had used on Question Time were not her own, they had ‘ downplayed the severity of domestic abuse’.
In a statement today, the charity said: “Refuge’s position was and remains clear: domestic abuse is never ‘one off’, it is a pattern of behavior that can manifest itself in a number of ways, including but not limited to abuse. Physical Domestic abuse is never acceptable.
“Over the weekend we have been listening and hearing from survivors of domestic abuse who have told us how devastating this has been for them.
“While we know the words were not Fiona’s and were words she was legally required to read, this does not lessen their impact and we cannot lose sight of it.
“These words downplayed the severity of the domestic abuse and this has once again traumatized the survivors.”
In his biography of Boris Johnson, renowned investigative author Bower describes Stanley’s first marriage as violent and unhappy, quoting Johnson’s mother Charlotte as saying: ‘He broke my nose. He made me feel like I deserved it.
Stanley Johnson’s alleged violence towards Boris’s mother, Charlotte, an artist, was revealed in a biography of her son Boris by renowned investigative author Tom Bower.
Charlotte, who died in 2021, told the author: “I want the truth to be told.”
A major controversy follows over reports that Boris has nominated his father for a knighthood in his resignation honors list.
The former prime minister’s office has not denied the claims, prompting a wry comment from Rishi Sunak on Friday.
Asked if honors should go to family members and if he would ever nominate a relative, the prime minister joked that the best thing his own father gets is a card on Father’s Day.
Speaking to reporters on a Eurostar train en route to the Anglo-French summit in Paris, Sunak said: “For me, a big success is remembering to give my dad a card on Father’s Day, so that’s probably my limit. “. .. if I’m making a card, I’m doing it right.’
He added: ‘There’s always talk and speculation about honor rolls beforehand.
I am not going to comment on speculation. I don’t see these things until I see them, so it’s hard for me to say anything more than that.’
Asked if he agreed in principle with nominating family members for the honours, he added: “My dad will get a card on Father’s Day and that’s it.”
Boris with his mother at an event in London in 2014
It came after Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said prime ministers should “absolutely not” bestow honors on family members.
He told the BBC’s Question Time programme: ‘As a matter of principle, is it prudent for a prime minister to nominate a member of his own family for an honour? Not absolutely not.
Johnson Snr would join another of his children, Jo, a former Tory minister now in the House of Lords, in being honored by the former prime minister.
Labor have criticized the decision, accusing the former prime minister of “cronyism”.
In 2021, Stanley was accused of inappropriately touching Conservative MP Caroline Nokes and political journalist Ailbhe Rea.
Ms Nokes, 50, said he hit her “in the rear as hard as he could” and told her “you have a lovely seat” at the 2003 Conservative Party conference.
Ms Rea claimed that he “groped me” at the 2019 Tory conference when she was 24 years old. At the time, Stanley told Sky News: “I don’t remember Caroline Nokes, but there you go.”
Ms Johnson-Wahl pictured on the left with Boris Johnson, his sister Rachel and his brother Leo in 2015