Jennifer Arcuri: Boris Johnson 'is feeding me to the wolves'
Jennifer Arcuri is accused of receiving favourable treatment for business ventures while Boris Johnson was mayor of London.
Monday 18 November 2019 19:47, UK
The American businesswoman at the centre of a controversy involving Boris Johnson has said the PM should "pick up the phone" and "acknowledge the destruction" she has had to endure.
Jennifer Arcuri said she was "attacked and barricaded" by people in London after it was revealed Mr Johnson supported her extensively during trade missions and events while he was mayor of London.
Her links with the now-prime minister came under scrutiny earlier this year over allegations she received favourable treatment for her business ventures during Mr Johnson's eight-year stint as mayor.
She has consistently denied any favouritism, saying she applied for all the grants and trips legitimately. Mr Johnson has said all his dealings with Ms Arcuri were "done with complete propriety".
In an interview with ITV's Good Morning Britain on Monday, she said: "I think having to endure all the kind of media/press and all that I've had to go through - I think the kind respectable thing would have been to answer the phone, have a quick call with me."
Ms Arcuri said she had called Mr Johnson a week ago and he hung up, while the previous time a man took the phone from him and "was pretending to speak in a Chinese accent...otherwise, F off".
She said the two used to speak on the phone all the time and she felt like she could talk to Mr Johnson "about anything" and he "always made time to answer the phone".
The businesswoman and ex-model had previously said the prime minister had treated her like a "gremlin" when she asked for help on handling the media.
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She has now said she will not try to contact him again, but added: "He knows to call me, it's the right thing to do.
"I want him to acknowledge the destruction I've had to endure, carrying the heat for the past three months for this quest for power that he has set himself."
She refused to say if they had an affair, saying: "I'm not going to answer that question, but as you can tell, there was a very special relationship there and when it did come out, half the people already assumed the affair and told me to admit.
"The other half just wanted me to deny, deny, deny."
She added that Mr Johnson's public persona is the opposite of how he has dealt with the accusations against Ms Arcuri.
"Everybody loves when Boris speaks and how he's a straight shooter, quite a lad, everybody would love to go and have a pint with him," she said.
"What's surprising to me is in this situation is he's done no such thing and he's almost running the other way which makes me concerned."
Later, speaking to the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire Show, she said she would like the PM to apologise, and accused him of feeding her to the wolves.
"I would love an apology for acknowledging the fact that given all those years, you know, that I was on the ground, hustling and working as a student. I mean he saw my arc, he saw my progression as a young woman, graduating and becoming, you know, a mature entrepreneur."
She added: "He didn't have to ignore me, it could have been a 30-second phone call, just to let me know that he's acknowledging the fact that he, while he gets to be prime minister, gets to feed me to the wolves - and I find that really disturbing."