NBC’s Ann Curry has dedicated more than 30 years of her life to the news industry, focusing on human suffering in war zones and natural disasters. And she is sick of this idea “that a woman can only be successful because she somehow connived or engineered her rise – that she could not rise simply because she was too good to be denied”.

Speaking to Forbes, Curry said she is frequently asked if she “forced” NBC to give her the anchor job or if there was a “backroom deal”.

“I find it really annoying,” she said.

Of course, Curry and Holden are not the only ones to be accused of using their sexuality to advance their careers: indeed, it is a pretty common assumption that people make about women who succeed. Rob Kardashian famously went on a Twitter rant about musician Rita Ora, claiming she had slept with 20 men to get to where she is in her career. Joan Rivers accused Chelsea Handler of using Ted Harbert, the CEO of Comcast Entertainment Group, to further her own success. And Karrinne Steffans accused Tyra Banks of sleeping her way to the top of the fashion industry.

Darkest of all, though, is all those actresses (including Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Alba and Blake Lively) who were accused of sleeping with Harvey Weinstein to “make it” in Hollywood.

Why David Walliams’ joke about Amanda Holden is so grossly inappropriate