The BBC Scotland reporter called a ‘good girl’ by Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers in a terse post-match interview has said she does not believe the Celtic boss meant to offend her.
Rodgers has come under fire for the comment to journalist Jane Lewis after a 3-1 win at Motherwell’s Fir Park on Sunday.
Campaigners at the For Women Scotland organisation accused the Celtic boss of ‘casual sexism’. While a spokeswoman from the Scottish Feminist Network sarcastically claimed that she ‘thought dinosaurs were extinct.’
Lewis has finally broken her silence of the issue, insisting that she believes the former Liverpool and Leicester boss meant no offence.
‘Clearly, the interview on Sunday has become a talking point. She said on Tuesday. ‘I don’t believe there was any offence meant by Brendan Rodgers – and for my part, there was none taken.’
The exchange was initially broadcast on the Sportsound radio programme but the BBC News TikTok channel has now posted the footage.
In the video, Rodgers appears to pat Lewis after his ‘good girl’ comment, before walking off to abruptly end the interview.
Lewis, 53, had asked Rodgers to explain himself after he told her that, in terms of the title race, ‘the story has already been written about this group, but we will write our own story’.
When she asked him to elaborate, he seemed unhappy with the line of questioning and said: ‘No, no, you know exactly what I mean.’
Lewis again pressed Rodgers to explain, but he appeared to wind up the interview and said: ‘Done, good girl, well done.’
Rodgers is under pressure amid a tight title race with arch-rivals Rangers in the Scottish Premiership.
Rangers beat Hearts 5-0 on Saturday to move five points clear of Celtic at the top but their late goals at Motherwell cut the gap back to two points.
Experienced broadcaster Lewis, who has previously worked for Sky News, Sky Sports, Eurosport and STV’s Scotland Today programme, was targeted by social media trolls after Sunday’s exchange.
Lewis has covered major sporting events such as the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and the Commonwealth Games when staged in Glasgow and on Australia’s Gold Coast.
She reports on European and World Cup qualifiers with the Scotland national football team as well as covering Scottish domestic football and European games involving its clubs.
