BBC Breakfast host Jon Kay has been blasted by viewers who feel he was “harsh” during an interview with one of sex offender Jimmy Savile’s victims.
Kay and co-host Sally Nugent were speaking to Susan, one of Savile’s victims in the 1970s, ahead of the release of the BBC’s controversial new drama about the disgraced broadcaster and his crimes. The show stars Steve Coogan in the lead role.
The guest appeared via video call along with the show’s executive producer Neil McKay, who joined Jon and Sally in the studio. But Jon came under fire when he questioned Susan about why people “laughed” at her.
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Susan was explaining how people didn’t used to take her seriously as one of Savile’s victims when she first discussed the abuse. The sex offender got away with his hideous crimes for decades and it was only in 2012, a year after his death, that it emerged that he’d sexually bused hundreds of people during his life.
Susan told Breakfast: “All the years that I had talked about it previously – people just laughed because they didn’t take it seriously.” Jon asked her: “They laughed?”, prompting some viewers to claim he’d said something inappropriate to her.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, one wrote: “Did Jon just ask ‘why she laughed’?” [sic]”. Another said: “This woman is a victim of a BBC backed sexual predator… Kay not showing much empathy towards her.”
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Another claimed: “#BBCBreakfast Jon Kay victim blaming, BBC 101.” Another complained: “This just felt wrong on every level. The victim was obviously still traumatised by the past events, and yet she was inappropriately and repeatedly questioned, by the very institution that continually turned a blind eye, to allow his vile abuse. An uncomfortable watch!!”
It comes as Steve Coogan admitted there was a “problem” with portraying Savile. He said: “On a number of occasions I was working with younger cast members, often women in their late teens or early 20s playing the role of people even younger… the people Savile preyed on. It was really important everyone felt at ease and comfortable.”
(Image: BBC)
He continued: “An inherent problem of impersonating someone accurately is it can strangely make people laugh and of course you don’t want to do that here, because it would trivialise this.” Bosses hired intimacy coordinator Jenefer Odell to help the cast cope with sensitive scenes.
The Reckoning starts on Monday (October 9) at 9pm on BBC One.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
