Famous men should not take advantage of their status to engage in sexually inappropriate behaviour, or make explicit remarks, at work. If and when this happens, their bosses should ensure that it is stopped. This might seem obvious. But in an interview for BBC News last week, Kirsty Wark, the former Newsnight host, described how when she was a contestant on Celebrity MasterChef in 2011, she complained to the production company about the show’s co-presenter Gregg Wallace. She thought a sexualised monologue he delivered early one morning on set was so ill-judged that it made her angry, and worried that staff on short-term contracts would not feel able to object.
BBC News also heard from 12 other people making various allegations. That it has taken so many years for these claims to emerge strongly suggests that the impunity enjoyed by celebrities is an ongoing cultural problem in the media industry. Mr Wallace has apologised for a video made at the weekend, in which he suggested the complaints against him came from “a handful of middle-class women of a certain age”. He is cooperating with an investigation by MasterChef’s production company, Banijay UK.
An internal BBC review of workplace culture, announced in August after Huw Edwards pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of children, is also under way. Asked about Mr Wallace on Monday, the prime minister’s spokesperson said that review must produce “clear and timely recommendations” with a view to restoring public trust.
It is deeply concerning that the BBC still struggles to address concerns about the behaviour of its stars in a timely way. But Ms Wark, and the journalists who worked with her on the MasterChef story, deserve credit in this case. By speaking up, she ensured that other details about Mr Wallace’s track record would be unearthed. This is not the first time that the BBC’s own news journalists have played a part in exposing wrongdoing inside the organisation. In the years leading up to 2012, two journalists, Liz MacKean and Meirion Jones, faced a wall of resistance as they tried to expose the serial sex offender Jimmy Savile.
More recently, in 2022, a joint investigation between the BBC and this newspaper revealed multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against the former Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood. Last year, he was interviewed under caution by police in relation to several alleged offences. Also last year, a Channel 4 Dispatches programme revealed shocking allegations about another star, Russell Brand. These included sexually abusive behaviour towards a 16-year-old girl.
It is seven years since the #MeToo movement galvanised a whole series of revelations about sexually inappropriate and abusive behaviour by famous men – and opened up a broader conversation about what is acceptable in society. Through his lawyers, Mr Wallace has denied sexually harassing behaviour. Inquiries such as the one being conducted by Banijay UK can be an important means of getting at the truth. But news journalists too have a crucial role to play – as Ms Wark’s interview reminds us.