Footage of Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers calling a reporter a ‘good girl’ has been revealed for the first time.
Rodgers has come under fire for the comment to BBC Scotland journalist Jane Lewis after a 3-1 win at Motherwell’s Fir Park on Sunday.
He is due to speak at 12.45pm today and will no doubt face tough questions about the controversy, with Celtic playing Dundee on Wednesday evening.
Campaigners at the For Women Scotland organisation accused the Celtic boss of ‘casual sexism’.
The terse exchange was initially broadcast on the Sportsound radio programme but the BBC News TikTok channel has now posted the footage.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers was accused of ‘casual sexism’ after saying ‘good girl’ to BBC reporter Jane Lewis at the end of a terse radio interview following his team’s win at Motherwell
Lewis had asked Rodgers to elaborate on a cryptic comment made about the title race
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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.’
Lewis, a broadcast professional with decades of experience, has not commented on the matter and is thought to be unfazed.
However, a spokeswoman from the Scottish Feminist Network said: ‘Jane Lewis was just doing her job, trying to extract an explanation from Brendan Rodgers on his cryptic comment.
‘That the go-to attitude was condescension is quite illuminating, but really very depressing in 2024. We thought dinosaurs were extinct.’
Campaigners at For Women Scotland called on Rodgers to apologise.
A spokeswoman said: ‘It’s depressing that casual sexism is still embedded in sport. Women’s achievements are underrated and dismissed, and their professional status undermined. Rodgers owes the reporter an apology.’
Experienced broadcaster Lewis pictured with Partick Thistle’s unusual mascot Kingsley
Lewis has covered Scottish club and international football for several years, as well as events such as the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games
Meanwhile, former Hibs player Tam McManus described Rodgers’ comments as ‘utterly embarrassing’ on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Celtic chose not to comment when they were contacted by Mail Sport on Sunday night.
Legendary broadcaster Jeff Stelling was left aghast at the Celtic manager’s ‘good girl’ remark.
Speaking on TalkSPORT, he said: ‘Good girl, good girl? Goodness me, Brendan. What does he mean?’
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.
Celtic got back to winning ways after battling back to beat Motherwell 3-1 in the Premiership
Celtic manager Rodgers celebrated his side coming from behind to beat Motherwell
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.
She responded to one post – since deleted – by saying: ‘This is just NOT true!!!’
One Celtic account accused her of being a Motherwell fan who ‘went to pieces’ after Celtic won late on, while another alleged Lewis had a ‘long running agenda with Celtic.’
Many others on social media supported Lewis. One post wrote: ‘It’s just patronising saying “good girl”. Saying good man is totally different. If he said ‘good boy’ after this interview, then it would be equally as patronising imo.’
Another said: ‘Get a grip. Treating a female commentator in that way is unacceptable. Nobody is asking for a points deduction, but an apology might be nice. Perhaps less sexist abuse too, which seems all that people like you are capable of.’
Lewis previously defended herself against criticism from Celtic supporters. In December 2021, she was presenting Sportsound on BBC Radio Scotland when Celtic won in then 97th-minute away at Ross County.
Legendary broadcaster Jeff Stelling questioned Rodgers’ remarks on his TalkSPORT show
There was plenty of backing for Lewis on social media following Rodgers’ comment, with fans calling it ‘unacceptable
It sparked a mass pitch invasion by Celtic fans, with those on social media of the opinion Lewis was upset at the crucial late winner and the reaction.
Lewis tweeted at the time: ‘I am slightly baffled that some seem to get more joy out of my “apparent hurt” than their team winning a football match.
‘Just for the record, I’m not ‘rattled’, ‘hurting’, ‘bitter’ or ‘deflated’…’
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