Kay Burley will be off air for six months after breaching coronavirus rules with her 60th birthday celebrations
Sky News presenter Kay Burley tonight described herself as an 'idiot' and apologised following her six-month suspension over breaching coronavirus rules with her 60th birthday party.
In a grovelling email to all her Sky colleagues, leaked to MailOnline, she said: 'Dear all, I'm an idiot. I'm really very sorry. I know I have let so many of you down. There's really nothing else I can say to excuse my actions.'
Her colleagues political editor Beth Rigby and North of England correspondent Inzamam Rashid, who also attended the party, will each be off air for three months following the event in London on Saturday.Senior Sky News staff have demanded to know whether the three journalists will be paid during their suspensions.
One senior executive said: 'There is an awful lot of disquiet at what is seen as a gentle slap on the hand for Kay Burley. Giving her six months off doesn't rescue the integrity of our news organisation.
'We want to know if her salary is still going to flow into her account. If it is, her lawyers have done really well.
'She should have been sacked and sent packing along with the others. They knew they were breaking the rules and were public faces of Sky News.
'A few of us have been saying that these feeble suspensions send out the wrong message and also indicate that Kay Burley is bigger than Sky News.'
Sky News presenter Kay Burley (pictured in October) has agreed to be off air for six months after breaching coronavirus rules
Sky News host Kay Burley (centre, in black) and Beth Rigby (right, in red) at the 60th birthday party in London on Saturday
All three party-going colleagues had been taken off air by chiefs at the Comcast-owned network earlier this week along with Miss Burley's fellow presenter Samantha Washington, who insiders say will be returning to screens next week.
Miss Burley, who has been with Sky News for 32 years, said today that she was 'sorry' and 'made a big mistake', adding that she was full of regret that her 'dear friends and colleagues have been pulled into this episode'.
Miss Rigby told all Sky staff that it was 'wrong' of her to attend the dinner and hug Miss Burley goodbye, adding: 'Everyone is making sacrifices and is restricted in many ways right now and mine was a huge error of judgement.'
The dramatic move announced shortly after 4pm today means neither Miss Rigby nor Miss Burley will be on Sky covering the final Brexit negotiations, the coronavirus vaccine rollout or the development of tier restrictions.
Sky News did not say who would replace Miss Burley or who would fill the role of political editor in Miss Rigby's absence. Sam Coates, who joined the channel in June 2019, is currently deputy political editor.
Inzamam Rashid (centre), Sam Washington (right), and former royal correspondent Paul Harrison (left) also attended
Miss Burley (centre, hugging someone) and Miss Rigby (in red) are pictured after dinner at the Century Club on Saturday
Miss Rigby is pictured outside the Century Club in Soho on Saturday after a dinner with Miss Burley for the host's birthday
Miss Burley, who has been with Sky News for 32 years, said in a statement today that she was 'sorry' and 'made a big mistake'
Miss Rigby told all Sky staff in a statement today that it was 'wrong' of her to attend the dinner and hug Miss Burley goodbye
Miss Burley said in a statement: 'I have today agreed with Sky News to step back from my broadcasting role for a period of reflection. It's clear to me that we are all in the fight against Covid-19 and that we all have a duty to stick firmly by the rules.'It doesn't matter that I thought I was Covid-complaint on a recent social event. The fact is I was wrong, I made a big mistake, and I am sorry. Some dear friends and colleagues - some of the most talented and committed professionals in our business - have been pulled into this episode and I regret this enormously.
And Miss Rigby told all Sky staff in an email: 'To all my colleagues, I just wanted to write to you all to tell you how sorry I am for what I've done in recent days and let you know it will never happen again.
'It was wrong of me to attend the dinner event, and it was wrong of me to hug Kay Burley goodbye as I was leaving to go home. I've covered the guidelines throughout the pandemic and I should have known better. Everyone is making sacrifices and is restricted in many ways right now and mine was a huge error of judgement.
'You will know how proud I am to work for Sky News. I also want you to know how sorry I am that I let you all down as well as our viewers whom we're here to serve. I will use this time to reflect on all of this and then come back ready to work with you all again in the new year.'
Their statements came after a Sky News spokesman said: 'A small number of Sky News staff attended a social event in London on Saturday evening during which Covid-19 guidelines were breached.
'As a result of an internal review Sky News presenter Kay Burley has agreed to be off air for six months, and political editor Beth Rigby and correspondent Inzamam Rashid have agreed to be off air for three months.
'All those involved regret the incident and have apologised. Everyone at Sky News is expected to comply with the rules and the company takes breaches like this very seriously indeed.'
Sky has been carrying out an internal investigation this week into whether coronavirus rules were broken by the party which began at The Century Club in London's Soho and finished at Miss Burley's house.
It is understood that the groups dined outside and sat across two different tables to comply with current rules in the capital, which is in tier two of the regional Covid-19 restrictions.
Miss Burley apologised on Monday night for an 'error in judgment' and claimed she had 'inadvertently broke the rules'.
Miss Rigby went home after the dinner – but Miss Burley and others walked across Soho to the restaurant Folie. Miss Burley claims she 'popped in' after the 10pm curfew to use the toilet.
Some of the group are then said to have gone on to her home to continue the party – something strictly prohibited by regulations on socialising indoors.
Before the internal investigations had concluded, a senior industry source told the Daily Mail last night there was 'real concern' about letting Miss Burley return to hold ministers to account if she had broken the rules herself.
Mr Harrison (left) and Mr Rashid (centre) also attended the dinner along with Miss Burley's fellow presenter Miss Washington
It had initially been claimed Miss Rigby (in red) could avoid losing her job because she was only present for part of the evening
Miss Burley said that she spent Saturday night at a 'Covid-compliant restaurant' in London before flouting tier two restrictions
Sky News is owned by Comcast, which also controls US news media firms such as NBC and Universal Studios. Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox sold its shares in Sky TV to Comcast in September 2018.
Under tier two regulations, you are not permitted to mix inside your own home with people not from your household.
You are also not allowed to eat inside a restaurant with anyone outside of your household, although a loophole allows business meetings to take place inside.
Groups from different households are allowed to dine in outside terraces and al fresco areas. The Century Club has a heated outdoor roof terrace.
Kay Burley: The no-nonsense news viper who 'hated being married', got in a punch-up outside Naomi Campbell's trial and was branded 'a bit dim' live on TV
Kay Burley is the no-nonsense news viper who relishes holding MPs to account - but has not been without her own share of controversy in a broadcast career spanning more than three decades.
The ambitious anchor has risen up through the ranks of the broadcasting world and boasts 'more hours of live TV than anyone else', but regularly divides opinion with her forthright attacks on politicians.
The 59-year-old seldom talks about her personal life though did once admit she had 'two successful marriages' - but 'hated being married'.
From left: Tony Blackburn, Peter Marshall, Derek Jameson, Andrew Neil, Alastair Yates, Rupert Murdoch, Penny Smith, Bob Friends, Kay Burley during the launch of Sky TV on February 5, 1989
By her early 20s, Miss Burley had already divorced her first husband, Steve Burley, whom she met aged 17, on a local newspaper in Wigan, and married when she was 19.
She moved to Sky when she was 28 and, three years later, met her second husband, football agent Steve Kutner.
By the age of 32 she was pregnant with their son, Alexander, but the pair split when he was one.
The mother and son remain close and in her Twitter bio she describes herself as, 'Sky News founder member. Animal lover. Mountain climber. Impossibly proud mum.'
She had a relationship with former Political Editor of The Sun newspaper, George Pascoe-Watson for five-and-a-half years but they separated shortly after he left newspapers for a job in PR in 2009.
In December 2017 Miss Burley was joined at Piers Morgan's birthday bash by her date for the night, British Airways pilot Jonny Knowlson, with whom she was spotted enjoying a night out at the Tate Modern two months earlier.
In 2008, Miss Burley clashed with a photographer during the scrum outside a London court ahead of a case involving Naomi Campbell
Jonny, who at the age of 30 was 27 years Kay's junior, met the newsreader when she employed the help of four 'strong, capable' British Airways pilots to help her overcome her fear of flying earlier that year.
In 2011 Miss Burley turned her hand to writing fiction, publishing her debut novel First Ladies; ' an irresistible cross between The Thick Of It and Jilly Cooper' in which 'the glamorous worlds of glossy magazines, TV and politics are laid bare'.
In an article for the Daily Mail last year, Burley said it was 'nonsense that wrinkles are a better look for a mature woman' as she spoke about how she'd treated herMiss self to a facelift for her 50th birthday.
She admitted to 'dabbling' with Botox and fillers, as well as having a lower facelift, brow lift and bags removed from under her eyes.
The fracas happened as they waited for supermodel Naomi Campbell to arrive to face charges for assaulting airport police
She added: 'Women, especially those in the public eye, are always more harshly judged than their male counterparts.'
The 59-year-old was born to parents Kath and Frank in Wigan, Lancashire at the start of the Swinging Sixties and has often praised her late parents for giving her an upbringing 'full of love.'
She said the family had no money but her parents were 'amazing.'
Miss Burley began her journalism career at the Lancashire Evening Post and Chronicle, aged 17 before moving into broadcast as a reporter on Granada Reports in 1981 as a researcher for Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan.
By 1985 she'd been offered a reporting job at TV-am before moving to Rupert Murdoch's Sky in 1988 where she was at the helm of the fledgling Sky News.
Kay Burley presents to camera outside the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital on July 22, 2013 ahead of the birth of Prince George
Miss Burley quickly moved up the ranks to become its leading reporter, breaking the news of Princess Diana's death in 1997 and was live on air in 2001 when the Twin Towers in New York were attacked.
The 9/11 coverage earned her a Bafta, which she 'keeps in the loo'.
She was handed a plum new gig in September 2018 when she was given her own show in her name, which 12 months later moved to the prime time morning slot and was rebranded Kay Burley @ Breakfast.
The agenda-setting gig - set up at the crux of Britain's Brexit negotiations and the general election - is filmed live in Westminster and sees Miss Burley joined by a host of politicians and critics.
Last year Miss Burley admitted she 'found it difficult to resist' being 'sucked in by the aura' and charisma of political figureheads including Boris Johnson, Bill Clinton and Tony Blair.
But sitting in the hotseat at Sky has led to Miss Burley accused of her fair share of controversies.
Then-Prime Minister David Cameron meets Miss Burley during a reception to celebrate the achievements of women in the media at 10 Downing St on May 16, 2013
In 2008, Miss Burley clashed with a photographer during the scrum outside a London court as they waited for supermodel Naomi Campbell to arrive to face charges for assaulting airport police.
The newscaster was apparently hit in the cheek by a camera - and was then seen with her hand around a photographer's throat.
The bust-up happened as 100 journalists fought to get a view of the model at Uxbridge Magistrates Court in North-West London.
There were suggestions that the photographer, Kirsty Wigglesworth from the Associated Press agency, had bumped into Miss Burley.
The same year, Miss Burley was deluged with criticism when she asked the wife of Suffolk serial killer Steve Wright, 'Do you think if you'd had a better sex life he wouldn't have done this?'
Miss Burley admitted she 'found it difficult to resist' being 'sucked in by the aura' and charisma of political figureheads including Bill Clinton, Tony Blair and Boris Johnson (pictured together here in 2019)
In 2010, she had to apologise for joking that Catholic US Vice President Joe Biden, who had ashes on his forehead to mark Ash Wednesday, had a 'bruise' that he'd picked up from 'walking into a door'.
Labour MP Chris Bryant later told her, 'You seem to be a bit dim, if you don't mind me saying.'
Miss Burley hit back: 'That's the first time anyone's said on TV that I'm dim and it was water off a duck's back. There's a photo of Chris Bryant on the internet in his underpants that he took for a gay website. One can judge who's the most dim.'
In September 2019, she had an awkward stand-off with Brexit Party MEP Lucy Harris when she was accused of not being impartial and of having voted Remain. The conversation turned heated when Miss Burley accused Ms Harris of being over-the-top by saying Remainers wanted 15 referendums until they got the result they wanted.
Just two months later, Miss Burley provoked a slew of Ofcom complaints after she was accused of a 'cheap stunt' for empty-chairing Tory chairman James Cleverly on her show.
In 2011 Burley turned her hand to writing fiction, publishing her debut novel First Ladies; ' an irresistible cross between The Thick Of It and Jilly Cooper' in which 'the glamorous worlds of glossy magazines, TV and politics are laid bare'
Miss Burley showed an empty chair and claimed that Mr Cleverly had refused to appear - but he insisted he had not agreed an interview with her and was in the process of another interview.
The presenter repeatedly showed the empty chair and reeled off a series of questions which she had intended to ask him, sparking a raft of complaints from viewers.
At the height of the pandemic, Miss Burley tore into cabinet minister Michael Gove after he appeared on Sky News to defend Dominic Cummings for breaking coronavirus restrictions.
She added: 'What people see here is that there's one rule for you… and another rule for them.
"Sky News presenter Kay Burley tonight described herself as an 'idiot'" That's all I needed to read. We have finally found the only honest "news presenter" on the planet.
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