Conservative leadership candidate Kevin O’Leary says he doesn’t recall whether he asked for permission before touching a model’s buttocks during the taping of a Dragon’s Den episode that aired in October 2013.
During the episode, O’Leary and fellow “dragon” Bruce Croxon are seen touching the rear end of a model who was promoting women’s denim clothing line Monjeloco Jeans.
Quizzed about the incident Friday by a Huffington Post Canada reporter, O’Leary said he didn’t remember the incident.
READ MORE: New federal Conservative party leader will need to choose unity over populism: Manning
In fact, the Alberta-based entrepreneur behind Monjeloco Jeans, Nora Furber, told the St. Albert Gazette a few days after the show aired that the judges had indeed sought permission beforehand.
“On TV it looks as though the models are taken by surprise, but Furber said the judges had asked if it was OK,” the community newspaper reported.
One of the judges present at that Dragon’s Den taping, Arlene Dickinson, recently slammed O’Leary for making “misogynistic” comments about her. This came after O’Leary labelled Dickinson “emotional” in response to an article she wrote criticizing his candidacy for the Conservative Party leadership.
WATCH: ‘I was deeply hurt by that’: Kevin O’Leary responds to Arlene Dickinson’s comments calling him misogynistic
While he didn’t recall the Dragon’s Den incident, O’Leary said Friday that it’s common for television programs to be edited to show “all kinds of incontextual moments.”
“In the end of the day that is television, it’s not policy. This is a different world we’re in here,” the businessman-turned-politician said.
“We’re talking about an economy that’s collapsing, no jobs for millennials, and you want to talk about reality TV?”
O’Leary has long said he’s aware people are scouring thousands of hours of footage from his time on reality television looking for clips that could be used against him.
— With a file from the Canadian Press
- What is a halal mortgage? How interest-free home financing works in Canada
- Ontario doctors offer solutions to help address shortage of family physicians
- Capital gains changes are ‘really fair,’ Freeland says, as doctors cry foul
- Budget 2024 failed to spark ‘political reboot’ for Liberals, polling suggests
Comments