Theatre owner criticises PM after football fans inflict ‘significant damage’ to his buildings
Theatre owner Sir Cameron Mackintosh has criticised Prime Minister Boris Johnson after football fans scaled the walls of one of his theatres before England’s game against Italy.
Sir Cameron, who looks after a number of West End venues, said repair costs to the Wyndham’s Theatre, just off Leicester Square in central London, are thought to be in the “tens of thousands”.
In a letter to Mr Johnson, he wrote: “As was widely reported and condemned on social media, at approximately 5pm [on 11 July], around 50 people broke through fencing at Wyndham’s Theatre and climbed on to the delicate canopy of this 19th century, Grade II listed building in the heart of the West End.
“Despite similar incidents after the semi-final, the police appeared insufficiently resourced to deal with this vandalism and the danger posed to the trespassers, and it was only later that riot police finally arrived.
“No doubt, had England won the match – which we were all rooting for – the situation would have greatly worsened later in the evening. Significant damage was inflicted on the theatre, with repairs estimated in the tens of thousands, and the incident could easily have resulted in serious injury or fatality.”
Sir Cameron called the scenes a “grim metaphor” for how he feels they have been treated during the pandemic, saying the theatre industry has been left to “fend for itself”.
He added that theatres have been denied direct financial help and that the isolation rules are “unworkable”.
The impresario – who is behind London iterations of Hamilton and Mary Poppins – goes on to ask the prime minister why theatres have only been allowed to open with a capacity of 50% or 1,000 and comply with “extensive” mitigations, yet “tens of thousands of people” were allowed to head to central London with “seemingly little to no crowd management”.
The theatre in question is due to open on 7 August with a production of Leopoldstadt.
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Car mobbed by England fans in London
Speaking to The Times, Sir Cameron said that COVID “caveats are causing us chaos”, revealing that during its first day of rehearsals for Hamilton this week, 15 cast members had to be sent home due to track and trace, while re-openings of Hairspray and Prince Of Egypt had to be postponed.
Football fans were gathered across central London on Sunday ahead of England’s game at Wembley Stadium, with some spotted scaling buses, cinemas and restaurants, as well as letting off flares and fireworks in Leicester Square.
This was despite efforts to enforce social distancing across the capital, as thousands arrived for the game.
Sunday’s match, which England lost on penalties to Italy, had an attendance of more than 60,000 and was part of the government’s pilot events scheme – despite theatres having their audiences capped.
In response to Sir Cameron’s criticisms, the Home Office directed Sky News to Priti Patel’s tweet from Monday, which said: “A huge thank you to every police officer who’s been working in Wembley & across the country throughout #EURO2020.
“You’re a credit to policing in this country & should be incredibly proud.
“I condemn the violent minority who assaulted you last night – these thugs aren’t true fans.”
Entertainment
MasterChef presenter John Torode says allegation he used racist language upheld in report
Entertainment
Gregg Wallace: Over half of allegations against MasterChef presenter substantiated, including one of unwanted physical contact
An investigation into Gregg Wallace’s “inappropriate behaviour” on MasterChef has found that more than half of the allegations against him have been substantiated, including one of “unwanted physical contact”.
MasterChef’s production company Banijay UK shared a summary of its report into historical allegations of misconduct against the 60-year-old presenter, carried out by independent law firm Lewis Silkin over seven months.
The report also said the number of sustained allegations made Wallace’s return to MasterChef “untenable”.
The investigation heard evidence from 78 witnesses, including 41 complainants.
There were 83 allegations against Wallace, and 45 of them were substantiated. All were related to MasterChef.
While the majority of the substantiated allegations related to inappropriate sexual language and humour, a smaller number of allegations of other inappropriate language and being in a state of undress were also substantiated.
One allegation of unwanted physical contact was substantiated.
Nearly all the allegations against Wallace were related to behaviour which is said to have occurred between 2005 and 2018, with just one substantiated allegation taking place post-2018.
Wallace and Anne-Marie Sterpini in 2014
Ahead of the publication of the summary, Wallace had said he had been “cleared of the most serious and sensational accusations” made against him.
Additionally, the report summary found that there were also 10 standalone allegations about other people between 2012 and 2018/2019, two of which were substantiated. Those people were not named in the summary.
The investigation found that complaints had previously been raised with the production company between 2005 and 2024.
Gregg Wallace on MasterChef. Pic: BBC/ Shine TV 2024
While the report flagged inadequate reporting procedures prior to 2016, when Endemol merged with Shine ahead of Banijay acquiring Endemol Shine in 2020, it said there were significant improvements to HR processes and training after 2016.
While the investigation said some formal action was taken by the BBC in 2017, it also noted the corporation held no information regarding concerns raised over Wallace centrally, resulting in issues being addressed as a first offence.
Sky News has tried to contact Gregg Wallace for contact today.
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