Who is Jennifer Arcuri and how old is Boris Johnson’s American ex-model ‘lover’?
BORIS Johnson has been accused of misconduct in a public office over his friendship with businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri. But just who is the ex-model who refused six times to say whether she had an affair with the PM on GMB? Here’s more about her relationship with the PM. Who is Jennifer Arcuri? Jennifer Arcuri, 34, […]
BORIS Johnson has been accused of misconduct in a public office over his friendship with businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri.
But just who is the ex-model who refused six times to say whether she had an affair with the PM on GMB? Here’s more about her relationship with the PM.
Who is Jennifer Arcuri?
Jennifer Arcuri, 34, is a former model who is now an entrepreneur in the tech world.
Jennifer is originally from the US, but moved to London seven years ago.
She has since moved back to the US.
She began her career as Radio Disney DJ Razzle Dazz at the Walt Disney Company, according to her profile on IMDb.
She then delved into cinema and produced and directed short film La Valise in 2008, which was part of the Short Film Showcase at the Cannes Film Festival.
After moving to the UK in 2011, she launched a career in tech.
She founded Playbox Ltd, a social network for the video tech industry.
Jennifer also founded The Innotech Network in East London.
According to her Twitter profile, she is also the founder of Hacker House as well as an entrepreneur, cyber security expert and producer.
What is her relationship with Johnson?
It has been reported she and the Prime Minister are close friends.
Pole-dancing tech businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri furiously denied being unfairly awarded taxpayer cash when she was close to the former London mayor.
She told the Daily Mail she had “every right” to go on the jet-set trade missions with Boris when she lived and worked in London.
Mr Johnson is believed to have delivered a keynote speech at Innotech’s first summit in 2012, when Arcuri was 27.
Mr Johnson appeared at other events since then.
It’s alleged that Johnson regularly visited Ms Arcuri at her flat in Shoreditch, East London, when he was Mayor of London between 2008 and 2016.
The owner of the building told The Sunday Times she referred to him as “one of her best friends”.
Her home reportedly featured a dancing pole in the living room.
It also emerged that Jennifer campaigned for Johnson to be mayor for a second term and posted photos of him on social media.
Speaking to GMB on Monday, October 7, Jennifer said:
“I think it’s unfortunate that a good friend… now I’m dragged into the middle of this horrific scandal and the answer I give will be weaponised against this man.
“It’s really categorically no one’s business what private life we had or didn’t have and categorically more important, Boris never, ever gave me favouritism.”
What are the allegations?
Johnson is accused of granting public funding to Jennifer, whose flat he’s said to have visited “several times”.
Jennifer reportedly received £10,000 in business cash from an organisation Mr Johnson was responsible for as London Mayor in 2013.
Arcuri, who was in her 20s at the time, was also allegedly given special treatment to attend jet-set trade missions led by the future PM, according to a Sunday Times investigation.
She was reportedly given privileged access to three foreign trips in one year – despite her tech firm not meeting the eligibility criteria.
Initial decisions to turn her down for two of the trips were overturned after intervention by Johnson and his close team, it is claimed.
A leaked email seen by the Sunday Times allegedly shows Arcuri was given access to a New York trade mission after discussing it with the then-Mayor.
Sources also reportedly confirmed Johnson was a frequent visitor to Arcuri’s posh top-floor flat in Shoreditch, East London.
Mr Johnson has now been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
In October 2019, it was reported Arcuri is said to be terrified that personal information about her time with Boris Johnson will be leaked following the theft of a laptop.
On October 7, she appeared on Good Morning Britain telling host Piers Morgan that she bonded with the now-PM over their “mutual love of classic literature”.
She also described BoJo as “electrifying” but refused to answer questions over an alleged affaid.
She said: “It’s categorically no one’s business what private life we had or didn’t have.”
MORE ON BORIS JOHNSON
What has the Prime Minister said?
Mr Johnson has insisted that he had done nothing wrong.
Johnson refused three times to deny he had an affair with the former American model in an interview on Sky News.
The Prime Minister insisted there was “no impropriety” about taxpayer grants awarded to a tech company run by Jennifer Arcuri when he was Mayor of London.
In an interview with Sky News Mr Johnson was asked again if he had an affair with Ms Arcuri.
He said: “I’ve said what I have to say about that matter. I think perhaps the most important point is that I’m very, very proud of everything we did in London.”
Pressed to confirm he was not denying the affair, Mr Johnson said: “The crucial thing is that in terms of promoting London, everything was done with complete propriety.”
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368 . We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours