Phillip Schofield Scandal: Explosive ITV Investigation Published | "It's Pretty Astonishing"

the breaking news this lunchtime uh that itv's report into the Philip scoffield Scandal has been published uh the former this morning presenter was forced to quit earlier this year after it emerged that he had an affair with a younger colleague a decision he described as unwise uh but not illegal uh delivering her findings in the past few minutes Jane malahi uh King's Council said there was no evidence of a top culture at this morning and that its management made considerable efforts to determine the truth about the alleged relationship in December 2019 but in the face of the denials of those involved ITV was unable to uncover the relevant evidence until Scofield's admission in late May 2023 interesting well joining us now is Media lawyer Mark Stevens mark it would seem from the verdict of what was to itv's credit an external inquir quy into what went on there that essentially they've said well no one knew about it and there was no evidence of toxic culture uh are you happy to just say right that's it that's that and um let's all move on from this well I think it's pretty astonishing in the light of everything that followed and I think this is really a question Jan m casy is a is a well-known lawyer she was involved in it for the England Wales Cricket Board in the azim rafik Scandal so she's she's experienced at doing these kinds of Investigations and I imagine she's turned over every stone but essentially it's uh looking I think at what was known to management as opposed to were there other Clues there and The Wider issues which I think have got to come to the four are was there an independent whistleblowing hotline where people could have phoned anonymously to tip off that was external to ITV and we know there wasn't that and that is becoming pretty standard in large organizations and so I think that there are going to be some serious learnings out of this because the question will now be why didn't they know uh now Mark I would certainly not in any way want to impune the reputation and the good character of the barister who carried out this investigation but it does you know one word does occur to me here uh and that word is whitewash uh and uh you know if you pay barristers to look at into something uh you know they may kind of feel we're sort of on the payroll so we better give a nice verdict that will keep our pay masters happy that's my conclusion here and I don't think many viewers to uh this morning or ITV will be very happy with this at all it's basically they go well we've looked into this for a long time and it turns out that no one did anything wrong we're in the clear it's not good enough is it well I I think Kevin you know you're you're well renowned as an old cynic and of course nobody listening to this is going to be cynical about this in the same way at all are they um so I do think that this this isn't going to be the end of it it isn't the definitive full stop and if we cast our minds back um the journalists who looked into this came up with quite a lot of information you know you remember the cabs that were uh taken for this young Runner to uh go to Philip Scofield's house and things like that so I think there were Clues there and the question is really whether the um systems at uh ITV were fit for purpose and I noticed that they're saying under the existing systems they had it wasn't really discoverable so the question then is were the systems fit for purpose and what would you change to make sure there's not a recurrence and I think it's that question which is going to be the sort of focus of the attention from here because you you know so many heads have have rolled over this so many uh people have suddenly come out of the closet it cannot be the case that you can have uh a situation where some younger members of staff and other staff are unhappy but the management doesn't know about it what are the devices for management to know so that they can manage effectively I mean on that no does this do you think indicat a moment for maybe the television industry as a whole because it's been through a lot lately you know we've had from Jimmy savil Russell Brand Hugh Edwards super injunctions for very well-known Stars at the BBC ndas at other news channels is it now getting to the point that effectively the TV industry is going to have to take a long hard look in the mirror and say that we don't necessarily always behave in the same way as other corporates professional organizations do well I think I think it's not just TV I think TV uh is in it um and it's really the disproportionate power of celebrity and so if you look at uh the Sports World for example footballers who um are sexually abusive to people are not called out there isn't a proper independent process for either notifying um an external body or to have that investigated and that again is one of the flaws I think at most uh media stations everybody has a problem with this we can we know the sort of infatuated sort of I use the word groupy not in a pejorative sense but you know a sort of infatuation with a celebrity and things do go too far on occasion and there needs to be an effective mechanism for people who experience that to notify management probably through an independent process which is outside the company which can inform and investigate and if you look at your Yorkshire Cricket Club they now have an independent whistleblowing hotline where people can go and uh they're in invest complaints are investigated by an independent team of barristers and then there's a report back and I think that's the sort of system that we need in other sports in other counties and also for all the media Industries as well I would suggest Mark that uh basically this investigation which ITV uh would have hoped would close the book on this Saga has basically just about opened the cover now we need to get to the book uh it's a very untis absolutely right can I just I just want to point point out another reason to be very suspicious about this rather Hasty incomplete report uh that in in the report by uh the Barrister Jane malahi Philip scoffield is referred to as PS and his young lover colleague is referred to as PX very significant neither of them them both of them refused to cooperate with this investigation so we haven't got their input so once again this is a very unsatisfactory situation is it not yeah I think it is unsatisfactory but you know I think the way in which the door has been opened by Jo Malai is if the the existing systems were not showing this information then what do you need to do to have a system that does allow this information to flow because at the moment what essentially has been found is that the systems they had couldn't reasonably have discovered this information well if that's right then the systems have got to be flawed so how do you amend them and I'd be much more interested if there were strong recommendations on how you do that and the the the appropriate way which most companies who are trying to address this thematically and systematically are doing It Is by having an independent legal uh whistleblowing hotline so that they can be properly and independently investigated there's nobody wants to make a complaint about some uh sports star or celebrity who perhaps they fear will have greater influence with the management than they will and so as a consequence it's got to be taken outside the management it's got to be independently investigated and then once the results are known the management need to manage uh the behaviors of people in their in their business yeah it's really fascinating stuff thank you ever so much for uh your Insight so it's um I mean Annabelle it's interesting he says that this is very much the cult of celebrity and you do see this reflected in other walks of life such as Sports where essentially I suppose in many respects not necessarily in this case no one's alleging in fact the report says here that in no way shape or form was this alleged lover of Philip Scofield paid off but we have seen in other walks of life with celebrities this mechanism money essentially being used to gag people yes absolutely and you know talking about other areas of the economy which um have had such scandals you know politics is not without them either particularly in the conservative party of late look I think Kevin you raised a really important point there about how people will respond to the outcome of this inquiry um will they be concerned as you appear to be that if ITV wasn't marking its own homework then it certainly had a good relationship with the exam board will this be enough to draw a line under this controversy and of course a lot of viewers and think around half a million every day uh who watch this morning are going to wonder whether this Juggernaut can continue to limp on because that its heart was the authenticity between the people who were sitting on its sofa and that's been broken down make no mistake this is really really uh damaged this morning and don't forget it emerged in the middle of this Saga when we were all caught Up In the Heat of the Moment that staff on this morning referred to their audience which are often young moms at home as the tower block traces I was thought a newspaper should go and find a lot of people who work who live in tower blocks called Tracy and say we're the tower block traces but that's one other thing but the other thing I wanted to say to well to both of you but particularly you Annabelle is only one Junior member of the this morning staff admitted knowing about the affair now I knew about the affair sh journalists knew about the affair we didn't know who it was or anything but the the uh talk of Phil and his young boyfriend was Universal so the idea that nobody uh you know the idea that nobody knew about this on this morning I find hard to believe but uh you know that's just me perhaps but you know what I'm saying I'm not sure that people were open and honest with this inquiry we just don't know what people saw one imagines that rumors were swirling and generally in these cases there is no smoke without fire but it takes a very bold individual to come forward and say that they've witnessed something that they would regard as inappropriate and Mark was absolutely right that you need to have the mechanisms the systems in place so that whistleblowers can go somewhere to a safe place and reveal information that they may not be happy presenting to their bosses but one point he said you know he was asking about how do you actually fix this Beyond having an independent whistleblower hotline and a concern that I have is when these scandals break that that there'll be a Temptation for the government to try and weigh in and regulate more than it has already or you know we're seeing things um new legislation being floated around workplace relationships for instance well a lot of people meet their spouses um at work and it's harmless and it's possibly something that's to be welcom so it's it's an extremely difficult area to try and navigate of course we're not condoning the grooming of younger members of Staff or the abuse of th by those who are in positions of power but there's a risk that the government wads into this sort of situ be care Rel private individual this morning have instigated a system whereby all members of Staff if they form a a relationship or even a friend special friendship with fellow members of Staff they have to tell the company I'm against that my love life has nothing to do with the company I work for uh so it does sort of open the illiberal gates these kind of situations oh

Channel: TalkTV

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Keywords: debate, free speech, freedom of expression, live, live news, news, politics, talk radio, talk radio live, talk radio tv, talk tv, talk tv live, talkTV, talkradio, talkradio tv, talkradiotv, talktv live, uk, phillip schofield, phillip, schofield, holly willoughby, holly, willoughby, phil and holly, holly and phil, this morning, itv, itv this morning, this, morning, phillip schofield and holly willoughby, phil schofield and holly willoughby, eamonn Holmes, holmes, eamonn, philip schofield

Id: CB0E0Gzm4cY

Length: 12min 45sec (765 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 07 2023