Kerri-Anne Kennerley has slammed TV star Don Burke again during a radio interview in Adelaide on Thursday.
Speaking to Mix 102.3’s Jodie & Soda, the 64-year-old said she witnessed ‘unbelievably vulgar language’ from the Burke’s Backyard host after working on several stories with him.
After describing her own experiences with sexual harassment, the former Mornings With Kerri-Anne host spoke out against Burke.
‘It puts idiots on notice’: Kerri-Anne Kennerley SLAMS Don Burke again for his ‘unbelievably vulgar language’ and says she’s glad these stories are ‘now becoming open’
‘We’re looking at a spectrum at the moment with a lot of the Don Burke allegations,’ she said.
‘Having done a few stories with Don, I KNOW about that and [witnessed] what I considered was unbelievably vulgar language – and I’m no shrinking violet!
‘But even in those times it shocked me.’
During her interview, she also called for caution in a landscape in which allegations against celebrities are surfacing daily.
‘I KNOW about that’: Speaking to Mix 102.3’s Jodie & Soda, the 64-year-old said she witnessed ‘unbelievably vulgar language’ from the Burke’s Backyard host after working on several stories with him
She said she feared innocent men may be ‘caught up’ in the hunt for progress.
Kerri-Anne expressed relief that stories about Burke had opened the flood gates, but called for caution.
‘There are [men] just sorta’ going about day-to-day life and so let’s not get too excited [angry] about them slipping a little something through in conversation,’ she said.
‘As a woman, you have to figure out what your threshold is.’
The TV star then agreed with co-host Jodie Oddy’s insistence that it’s wise for women to ‘pick their battles’ in this situation.
‘Double standards will be around for a very long time, but at least it is now becoming open,’ Kerri-Anne noted.
‘But I wouldn’t [want this to cause ] men not to actually be gracious, kind, thoughtful [towards women] and have that taken for being a little too forward.’
Call for caution: Kerri-Anne expressed relief that stories about Burke had opened the flood gates, for women, but urged accusers to be measured and show caution
Kerri-Anne re-affirmed her joy that men guilty of sexual harassment were being held to task, but hopes women will remain measured in the current landscape.
She added: ‘I think there’s a lot of little nervous nellies out there [laughs] but at least it’s been talked about, and it puts idiots on notice.’
Don has been accused of sexually harassing and indecently assaulting women who worked on his gardening program in the 1980s and 1990s.
While he says he has acted like a tyrant on set and a lot of people didn’t like him, he insists he never sexually harassed women.
On Monday, he told Nine’s A Current Affair that ex-employees with a grudge were out to get him.
Kerri-Anne’s shared more details on her experiences with Don on Triple M Wednesday.
Allegations: Don has been accused of sexually harassing and indecently assaulting women who worked on his gardening program in the 1980s and 1990s – he denies these claims
‘I’ve been around the bloke but to me he always was just that little bit worse,’ she said.
‘All the boys were, it was the language school of Kerry Packer and it went downhill from that.
‘Boys will be boys. But many of us in that era drew the line in the sand and said: “Watch my lips. Do that again and I will hit you!'”‘
‘He was always a bit worse’: Kerri-Anne shared more details on her experiences with Don Burke Wednesday: ‘I’ve been around the bloke but to me he always was just that little bit worse’
The Nine Network veteran’s acknowledgement of a widespread issue echoes comments made by CEO Hugh Marks, earlier this month.
Addressing the Screen Forever conference audience, Hugh conceded he was ‘sure’ there was sexual assault problems at the network ‘twenty years ago.’
‘I’m sure there are things that will come out in the public that will talk to those problems,’ he confirmed.
‘But from where I sit right now, I feel like we’ve got an excellent culture that supports equality.’
‘I’m sure there are things that will come out’: The Nine Network veteran’s acknowledgement of a widespread issue echoes comments made by CEO Hugh Marks, earlier this month
There were problems: Addressing the Screen Forever conference audience, Hugh conceded he was ‘sure’ there was sexual assault problems at the network ‘twenty years ago’