THE BBC has revealed that it received more than 150 complaints after former Sky News host Kay Burley told a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein that she should accept that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was a “war hero”.
A total of 160 people complained to the BBC that it had been “insensitive for Kay Burley to refer to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor as a ‘war hero’” during an edition of Newsnight on July 6, a complaints report published by the broadcaster on Thursday said.
Burley’s comment came moments after Epstein survivor Lisa Phillips had urged other victims of the billionaire sex offender to come forward, and UK victims minister Alex Davies-Jones had done the same.
Phillips had said: “What I would love is for my survivor sisters here to get in touch with me on my website.”
Davies-Jones then said: “Likewise. Anyone can come forward – we already have had, as a result of us speaking out, survivors coming forward and claiming that they were also victims of Epstein, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, and Ghislaine Maxwell.
“So please, we would encourage anyone, if you’ve got any information, to come forward to us.”
Host Victoria Derbyshire asked if those who had come forward were British, and the Labour minister said they were.
Burley then interjected: “And we should accept that he was a war hero. We should just throw that in.”
Davies-Jones could be seen to roll her eyes at Burley, while Phillips shook her head.
The former Sky News host then repeated: “He was.”
At the time, the comment drew condemnation online.
As Burley shared separate a clip of herself on Newsnight on social media, one user responded: “You called him a hero to the face of one [Epstein’s] victims. Shameful and utterly disgraceful.”
“Are you going to address why you felt the need to make this comment Kay?” a second wrote.
A third said: “And with that comment Kay Burley threw her reputation, after a 40 year career, down the toilet. Reconsider and apologise.”
Burley has been approached for a response through her agent.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor served as a helicopter co-pilot and anti-submarine warfare officer during the Falklands War in 1982.
During his infamous Newsnight interview in 2019, Andrew claimed that his accuser Virgina Giuffre’s description of dancing with him while he was “profusely sweating” could not be true because he had “an overdose of adrenaline in the Falklands War” which made it “almost impossible for me to sweat”.
The former prince has denied any wrongdoing in his dealings with Epstein, a convicted paedophile with whom he maintained a close relationship over decades.
