The BBC broadcaster Clive Myrie has apologised for failing to declare at least £145,000 earned from external events and said he would stop doing them for the “foreseeable future”.
The presenter blamed the error on “several administrative issues” and said he would not take part in paid events outside his BBC role, except for some pre-existing commitments.
He wrote on X: “An apology – I’ve had several administrative issues, and I didn’t fill out the correct paperwork for some of my external public events, so they haven’t been published until now.
“I’ve told the BBC I won’t be taking part in any more paid external events in the foreseeable future, beyond a handful of pre-existing commitments, so that this doesn’t happen again. My sincere apologies.”
Declarations made retrospectively by Myrie go back to 2021. He was paid more than £10,000 per appearance for five of the undeclared events, the register shows.
This year, the Sunday Times reported that the presenter had failed to declare work chairing a debate at GreenTalks Live, an event hosted by the Isle of Man Energy and Sustainability Centre, and as a keynote speaker at a dinner hosted by the Dutch bank ING at the Gherkin skyscraper in London. Both events were reported to have commanded fees of more than £10,000.
The publication also claimed Myrie failed to report nine other engagements, including work as a guest speaker at Suffolk Chamber of Commerce’s Prestige Dinner, as a host at the National Residential Landlords Association’s conference, and as host of an Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association lunch.
Myrie, 60, is one of the BBC’s best-paid presenters, earning at least £310,000 for his role at BBC news plus an undisclosed sum for hosting Mastermind.
Introduced in 2021, the BBC’s external events register details paid-for outside work by staff in on-air journalism roles, and senior leaders.
On Wednesday, the corporation published the register for the third quarter of 2024, noting that “a number of events that were not submitted to the register in previous quarters have been retrospectively published today”.
The BBC said the register was part of its “commitment to ensure the highest standards of impartiality across the organisation” and those who have failed to follow the correct process “have been reminded of their responsibilities with regards to the register”.
It said where “non-compliance has occurred, robust management action has been taken” and that disciplinary action could be taken for breaches. The corporation added that it would be updating its guidelines to outline the “volume” of paid external events individuals are allowed to undertake.