Rose Knight: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Getty Justin Trudeau

Rose Knight has come forward, revealing her identity as the woman who said that she was groped by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2000 during a Creston Music Festival. Trudeau has apologized and said he didn’t recall the event. Here is what we know so far about Rose Knight and what happened. This is a developing story.


1. The Accusation Was First Made in an Unsigned Editorial in August 2000

The incident in question happened in 2000 during the Kokanee Summit, CBC reported. An unsigned editorial was posted in the Creston Valley Advance after the event in August 2000. The editorial accused Trudeau of “groping” and “inappropriately handling” a female reporter who was there. The editorial said the woman felt “blatantly disrespected.” Today, Rose Knight issued a statement revealing that she is the reporter from the accusation.

CBC approached Knight about what happened, but at first she did not want to reveal her identity or be associated with the story. Valerie Bourne, a co-worker of Knight at the time, told CBC that the reporter was “distressed” after what happened, CBC reported. Bourne said it was a “brief touch” and “I would not classify it or qualify it as sexual assault.”

Brian Bell, who was the editor of the Creston Valley Advance at the time, said he didn’t recall Knight being traumatized or distraught, CBC reported, but “whatever physical touch or whatever had occurred in that moment was definitely not welcome and definitely inappropriate.”


2. Knight Said She Revealed Her Identity in Response to Media Pressure

In a statement just released to the CBC, Knight said that she was revealing her identity in response to media pressure, but would not be sharing any further statements. You can read her full statement above.

She said, in part: “I issue this statement reluctantly, in response to mounting media pressure to confirm that I was the reporter who was the subject of the Open Eyes editorial, published in the Creston Valley Advance in August of 2000… I was a reporter for the Creston Valley Advance from 1999 through 2001. I was assigned to cover the August 2000 Creston Musical Festival by my employer and was the reporter referred to in the Editorial. The Incident … did occur, as reported. Mr. Trudeau did apologize the next day. I did not pursue the Incident at the time and will not be pursuing the incident further. I have had no subsequent contact with Mr. Trudeau, before or after he became Prime Minister.”


3. Knight Said She’s No Longer a Reporter & Has No Interest in Being Involved in the Story

In her statement, Knight said that she “enjoyed my career as a reporter, but it ended a long time ago.” She said she avoided issuing any statement out of concern for her privacy and her family’s privacy. She made it clear in her statement that she had no interest in being part of any debates about what happened, and she would not be providing any more details.

According to the original editorial, Knight was also writing for the Vancouver Sun and the National Post.


4. Trudeau Apologized & Said He Had No Memory of Anything Inappropriate Happening

GettyJustin Trudeau

Trudeau said he remembered the event in Creston, which was put together to support avalanche safety, The Washington Post reported. “I don’t remember any negative interactions that day at all,” he told reporters. But he said that he did apologize to the woman “in the moment,” but was confident he hadn’t acted inappropriately.

“I respect the fact that someone else might have experienced this differently,” he said.

The Kokanee Summit was raising money for the Avalanche Foundation. Trudeau had become involved in the foundation after his brother, Michael, died in an avalanche in 1998.


5. The Editorial Accused Trudeau of Saying He Wouldn’t Have Been So Forward if He Knew She Was a National Reporter

You can read a reprint of the 2000 editorial here. The editorial begins with the following: “‘I’m sorry. If I had known you were reporting for a national paper, I never would have been so forward.’ Those were the words that were spoken to an Advance reporter by Justin Trudeau, son of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, Aug. 4. Trudeau…apologized — a day late — for inappropriately ‘handling’ the reporter while she was on assignment, not only for the Advance, but also for the National Post and Vancouver Sun… It’s not a rare incident to have a young reporter, especially a female…be considered an underling to their ‘more predominant’ associates and blatantly disrespected because of it. But shouldn’t the son of a former prime minister be aware of the rights and wrongs that go along with public socializing?”

This Post was deleted by the Post author. Learn more

This is a developing story.