Boris Johnson told a journalist he “wished he was Black” at a drinks party the night Barack Obama was elected US President….READ FULL ARTICLE
The ex-PM demanded to know where Afua Hirsch “was from” at a friend’s party in 2008, before saying that he wish he was also Black. The comments emerged in an interview with Mr Johnson’s ex-wife Marina Wheeler, written by Ms Hirsch for Vogue.
Ms Hirsch said Ms Wheeler was also present at the party. When asked about the interaction at the party, Ms Wheeler groaned and said she has “blocked” such memories of Mr Johnson out.
Ms Hirsch, who is of British-Ghanaian heritage, wrote: “I met Wheeler once before, in 2008, at a friend’s party the night Barack Obama was elected US president, which we both agree feels like a lifetime ago.”
The ex-PM demanded to know where Afua Hirsch ‘was from’
She went on: “She was still married to Johnson, who was there with her, and who – true to form – made some problematic remarks about my own racial heritage.
“After demanding to know ‘where I was from’, he commented that he ‘wished he was Black’. Marina says she remembers me, but not what her then husband said, and groans when I tell her the story. ‘Good thing I blocked all of those things out.’”
Ms Wheeler said her divorce from Mr Johnson, which was finalised in 2020 after separating in 2018, did “free” her. “I suppose I do feel that, as you become more senior as a woman, and, I guess, post-divorce, if I’m honest, it does free you up,” she said. “You can look at the world again and do things that can make a difference.”
Marina Wheeler and Boris Johnson separated in 2020 after splitting in 2018
In October, barrister Ms Wheeler was appointed Labour’s new “whistleblowing tsar” to oversee plans to improve protections and employment rights for women against workplace harassment, abuse and sexual assault....READ FULL ARTICLE
