Sky News pulls out of Boris Johnson interview after no recording allowed
Sky political editor Beth Rigby cancels interview with former PM at Cheltenham Literature Fesitval
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Your support makes all the difference.Sky News political editor Beth Rigby said she has pulled out of an interview with former prime minister Boris Johnson at the Cheltenham Literature Festival after being told she could not make a recording or transcript of the talk.
Mr Johnson had promised to āreveal what really happened during my time as Mayor, Foreign Secretary and PMā during the interview, as he promotes his new memoir titled Unleashed to be published next week.
It comes after an interview with the BBC was dropped earlier in the week after presenter Laura Kuenssberg mistakenly sent him her briefing notes.
In a post on X, Ms Rigby said: āI was looking forward to interviewing Boris Johnson at Cheltenham but regrettably I canāt go ahead with the event because I am not allowed make an audio recording or transcript of the interview.
āAs a journalist in conversation with a former PM at a public event, I can only proceed if we do it on the record. Iām sorry to have to pull out.ā
Mr Johnson previously tweeted: āI will be UNLEASHED in Cheltenham on 10 October and in Manchester on 12 October to reveal what really happened during my time as Mayor, Foreign Secretary and PM.ā
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Ms Kuenssberg said she sent Mr Johnson the notes for her interview with him āin a message meant for my teamā before cancelling the discussion with the former prime minister.
The BBCās political editor between 2015 and 2022 said it was āembarrassing and disappointingā, adding the error meant it was ānot right for the interview to go aheadā.