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Bridget Jones Author’s Shocking BBC Groping Revelation

BBG News

Helen Fielding, the author of Bridget Jones, has recently shared her experiences of being repeatedly touched inappropriately during her time at the BBC when she was younger, according to The Mail on Sunday.

In the 1980s, it was a typical behavior among men at that corporation to casually touch women’s breasts while they were talking. (67-year-old individual made this statement)

As a former BBC employee in my twenties, I became accustomed to the disconcerting reality: men would casually touch me inappropriately while discussing work matters.

At the annual Soho Summit held at the fashionable Soho Farmhouse in Oxfordshire, she expressed that the daily occurrence was an accepted fact among women working at the BBC.

According to Ms. Fielding, it appeared as though that was simply an endurance, she being a celebrated figure of the Noughties, with her best-selling Bridget Jones novels being adapted into hit Hollywood movies featuring Renee Zellweger portraying Bridget.

Initially, I penned the movie “Bridget” before the Me Too movement, and upon revisiting it now, I find myself astonished by the behaviors depicted in it.

As a devoted admirer, I find myself deeply immersed in moments that mirror my own life, where Ms. Fielding’s heroine consistently faces inappropriate sexual advances from men. This includes her fictional superior, Daniel Cleaver, portrayed by Hugh Grant, who subtly violates Bridget’s personal space within the office setting.

Bridget, the lone lady often seen taking puffs from a cigarette, manages to keep her distance from her suggestive superior, Mr. Fitzherbert, who is infamously known as ‘Gaze-a-lot’. He openly ogles her chest area.

At the yearly gathering, author Dolly Alderton conversed with Ms. Fielding; notable figures like Rebel Wilson and Gillian Anderson were among the audience. In this discussion, Ms. Fielding expressed that the movie industry remains tainted by traces of sexism.

‘I honestly think it’s still there in the movie business, it’s just under the parapet,’ she added.

‘I think there has to be a constant awareness of not being unequal in the way women are treated.

As a woman, particularly a successful one, you’ll often encounter situations where you need to work significantly harder compared to men. Unfortunately, this can also lead to being subjected to treatment that men would typically avoid.

‘And there’s no denying that it is still going on and it needs to change.’

Ms. Fielding’s initial encounter with the BBC occurred after her time at Oxford University, where she worked backstage on Jim’ll Fix It, a popular children’s TV program led by Jimmy Savile. However, Savile’s exposure as a serial pedophile sparked a massive scandal within the corporation, which faced accusations of fostering such behavior.

Previously, it was often mentioned that ‘It wasn’t wise to let Jimmy be alone with the kids.’

However, at that time, we were around the age of 23, and it’s understandable… I believe the producers were well aware. We never imagined he would behave in such a manner. Yet, he had an unsettling demeanor. As a precaution, we always ensured to remain with the children.

In 1979, the author joined the BBC as a local researcher for their news program, Nationwide.

During the 1980s, she was responsible for creating and scripting documentaries in Africa for the initial two instances of the Comic Relief telecasts.

Following years spent contributing as a columnist and journalist for various prominent news outlets, Ms. Fielding initiated the anonymous publication of a column chronicling her single life experience, titled “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” for The Independent in the year 1999.

Her columns struck a chord with many single women and led to four novels and film adaptations.

A representative from the BBC expressed regret for past occurrences, acknowledging that both mindsets and actions have undergone substantial transformation over the past four decades. Today, the BBC, much like contemporary society as a whole, is a markedly distinct entity compared to its former self.

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2025-05-04 00:33

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