Bridget Jones author claims she was 'groped all the time' when she worked for the BBC
Bridget Jones author Helen Fielding has claimed that while she worked at the BBC she was groped by male colleagues during the 1980's and females just 'got used' to it
Bridget Jones author Helen Fielding has hit out at the BBC after she claimed she was "groped" by male colleagues while working at the broadcaster during the eighties. The 67 year old star, who was propelled to the dizzy heights of fame after her novel became a Hollywood blockbuster in 2001, candidly revealed in a recent interview that women would constantly have their breasts touched by men.
Helen admitted: "I worked at the BBC when I was in my 20s, and you just got used to the fact that people would actually put their hand on your boob while they were talking to you about work."
Speaking at the Soho summit at the Soho Farmhouse, she continued: "'It just seemed to be what you put up with. I first wrote Bridget pre #MeToo, and when I look at that film now, I can't believe that that stuff was going on."
In the film, which reflected Helen's experiences at the BBC, Bridget Jones played by Renee Zellweger, is persistently batting off unwanted sexual advances by men including her boss Daniel Cleaver, played by Hugh Grant.
The annual summit included Hollywood stars including Rebel Wilson and Gillian Anderson, who added that sexism was still rife in the film industry.
Helen continued: "I honestly think it's still there in the movie business, it's just under the parapet. I think there has to be a constant awareness of not being unequal in the way women are treated."
She added: "You still have to fight much harder as a woman, even a successful woman, and you get treated in ways that men would not be treated. And there's no denying that it is still going on and it needs to change."
Following her departure from Oxford University, Helen was working backstage at the popular children's TV show Jim'll Fix It, hosted by the shamed late star Jimmy Savile.
Years on from Helen working at the show, Jimmy Saville was exposed as a serial paedophile. At the time, his antics were whispered among staff, although it had not publicly come to light.
Speaking about her suspicions, she said: "Well, we always said, 'Don't leave Jimmy alone with the children'. But we were sort of 23, and you know.... I am sure the producers must have known."
She went on to say: "We didn't think he would do anything. But he was so creepy. We always stayed with the kids."
Helen became a regional researcher for the BBC in 1979 as part of the Nationwide magazine.
In response to Helen's claims, a spokesman for the BBC said: "We're sorry to hear of these experiences. "
The statement added: "Attitudes and behaviours have changed significantly in the last 40 years and the BBC – like the rest of society - is very different place now to what it was then."
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