(Bloomberg) -- U.K. Environment Secretary Michael Gove apologized “unreservedly” on Twitter Saturday after joking on a broadcast earlier in the day about Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.
Gove remarked on the BBC “Today” program that going into the studio is “like going into Harvey Weinstein's bedroom,” according a transcript of his comments. “You just pray that you emerge with your dignity intact.”
The remark comes a day after U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May urged political employees who'd suffered sexual harassment to come forward, after a newspaper article said that women working in Parliament set up a group to discuss their experiences at the hands of male politicians.
Gove followed on Twitter by apologizing for his “clumsy attempt” at humor. Weinstein has been accused by several women of sexual harassment and rape. He has denied any non-consensual sexual activity.
“Women being abused and raped is not a laughing matter,” Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said in a post on Twitter, in response to a posting on Gove's comment. “And it doesn't make us ‘humourless' to say so.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Kingdon in London at ckingdon@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Stephen Foxwell at sfoxwell@bloomberg.net, Nicholas Larkin, Steve Geimann
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