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Eamonn Holmes has described Phillip Schofield as “delusional” and said he has “picked the wrong person… if you’re looking for a fight”.

It comes hours after Schofield, 61, released a statement attacking his critics as “a handful of people with a grudge against me”.

Holmes, 63, who used to cover him on This Morning, called him a “liar” and said he is “reluctant to give the liar any more publicity”.

“But believe me Pip if u r looking for a fight , u have picked on the wrong person,” he wrote.

The feud emerged after Schofield quit the flagship ITV morning show on 20 May – six days before admitting an “unwise but not illegal” affair with a much younger production assistant on the programme.

ITV has been forced to answer questions about how much they knew about the relationship and accusations of a “toxic” culture. Bosses have confirmed they investigated rumours in 2020 but both parties denied it.

Phillip Schofield and Eamonn Holmes statements in full

Just before 10am on Monday, Phillip Schofield posts a statement on his Instagram stories.

“Now I no longer work on @thismorning I am free to say this. I hope you have noticed that it’s the same handful of people with a grudge against me or the show who seem to have the loudest voice.

“This morning IS the best show to work on, with the best people. In all the years I worked there there was no toxicity. You can listen to those persistently loud voices if you like.

“But the thousands of guests over the years, thousands of staff and crew, hundreds of presenters and contributors all know, it IS a family of wonderful, talented, kind, hard working people.”

At 11.10am Eamonn Holmes tweets a response.

“Schofield has just put out a delusional statement. Like Holly he puts it on Insta Stories so if it goes wrong there is no record after 24 hrs.

“I’m reluctant to give the liar any more publicity but believe me Pip if u r looking for a fight , u have picked on the wrong person !”

‘We happen to be in the news at the moment’

Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary, who have presented This Morning since Schofield stepped down, made brief reference to the controversy on Monday morning’s edition.

“We happen to be in the news at the moment, and of course we appreciate that,” O’Leary said ahead of their newspaper review. “But just from both of us and the whole team here, the crew, the guys downstairs, we love making this show for all of you.”

Hammond added: “We really do. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

Gyles Brandreth, who was reviewing the papers, also offered his support, saying: “This is a happy place to work. I enjoy coming here.”

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Short statement from This Morning

‘Toxic culture’ goes ‘far beyond’ Schofield

It comes after former This Morning doctor Ranj Singh, released a statement about the “toxic culture” at the show, claiming the “issues” with it “go far beyond him [Schofield]”.

He said he “took my concerns directly to the top of ITV”, but nothing came of it.

“There are some good people in TV, but we need to be brave and stand up to those who aren’t. Even if it’s scary as hell, we have to do the right thing otherwise nothing will change,” he wrote.

Read more:
A timeline of the This Morning controversy

ITV responds to rumours around show’s future
Why Schofield’s admission could kill off his career

ITV said it was “saddened” to hear Dr Ranj’s comments, but that his complaint was investigated and “no evidence of bullying or discrimination” was found.

Schofield’s former colleague, Eamonn Holmes, had previously said Schofield had “finally been caught out”.

“He’s not the only guilty party. 4 high members of ITV management knew what sort of man he was,” he said on Twitter.

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Dermot O’Leary on Schofield affair

Schofield originally said he was stepping down from This Morning because it had “become the story” following reports of a feud between him and co-host Holly Willoughby.

That came after his brother was recently jailed for 12 years over child sex offences.

Willoughby, 41, is due to return next Monday (5 June), having gone on an early half-term holiday on 22 May.

She has said that “when reports of this relationship first surfaced, I asked Phil directly if this was true and was told it was not”.

“It’s been very hurtful to now find out this was a lie,” an Instagram statement added.

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‘No mistakes’ were made – ITV boss

Schofield has now completely resigned from ITV and been dropped by his agents.

His statement to the Daily Mail also admitted lying about the affair to his wife, to ITV, his agents and the media.

The controversy has raised doubts about both Willoughby’s and the show’s future, but ITV has denied reports it could be axed.

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Rust armourer calls for new trial after involuntary manslaughter conviction

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Rust armourer calls for new trial after involuntary manslaughter conviction

A weapons armourer on the film set of Rust has asked for a new involuntary manslaughter trial and to be released from prison.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty after a two-week trial in Santa Fe, New Mexico, after the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins, 42, on the western film set in October 2021.

“Ms Gutierrez-Reed is requesting this court vacate her conviction and order new trial,” lawyers Jason Bowles and Monnica Barreras said, in an emergency motion.

“She is further requesting this court to release her pending further proceedings whether it be in this court or on appeal or writ.”

The court documents appear to have been filed on the same day that Alec Baldwin‘s lawyers filed a motion to dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against the actor over the shooting.

Halyna Hutchins pictured in 2017 at an Artists for Peace and Justice party, 70th Cannes Film Festival, France
Image:
Halyna Hutchins, pictured in 2017


In it, the actor’s lawyers accused prosecutors of “violating nearly every rule in the book” in acquiring the indictment.

Among the claims, it is alleged state prosecutors gave the grand jury instruction on involuntary manslaughter that “unfairly stacked the deck against Baldwin”, who was re-charged with involuntary manslaughter in January and will go on trial in July.

The Hollywood actor faces two counts of manslaughter, one for negligent use of a firearm and another for failure to exercise due caution – and faces a maximum of 18 months in prison if found guilty.

The 30 Rock actor has denied responsibility for Hutchins’ death, saying the gun went off without him pulling the trigger.

Read more:
Rust assistant director ‘missed final gun safety check’

Alec Baldwin. Pic: Reuters
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Alec Baldwin. Pic: Reuters

Hutchins died when a Colt. 45 revolver Baldwin was rehearsing with fired a live round that also wounded director Joel Souza during filming of the Western movie Rust.

Gutierrez-Reed will be sentenced on 15 April for the charge, which carries a maximum penalty of 18 months in prison and a $5,000 (£3,900) fine.

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Katie Price declared bankrupt for second time

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Katie Price declared bankrupt for second time

Former glamour model Katie Price has been declared bankrupt for a second time over an unpaid tax bill of more than £750,000.

Ms Price, who was previously declared bankrupt in 2019, owes £761,994.05 to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), a court was told on Monday.

At a short hearing at London’s Rolls Building, Insolvency and Companies Court Judge Sebastian Prentis said Ms Price had not responded to HMRC over the debt, and declared her bankrupt.

“There has been no response from the debtor. The papers are in order,” he said.

“There is a substantial debt due from Ms Price to HMRC, and therefore I will make a bankruptcy order.”

The judge said the bill “derives from self-assessments from the year 2020-21 and from the year 2021-22” and includes income tax, VAT, surcharges and interest.

Ms Price did not attend the hearing, which came days after she was fined £880 for driving without a licence or insurance in Northamptonshire in August last year.

More on Katie Price

In February, she was also ordered by a different judge to pay 40% of her income from adult entertainment website OnlyFans to trustees for the next three years in a separate dispute over unpaid debts, with the hearing told she was due to face questions about her finances in April.

She said in October last year she was “fed up” with being threatened with legal action and would go to prison to be “done with it all”.

Katie Price. Pic: Goff
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Katie Price at a previous court date in 2022. Pic: Goff

Speaking to TV personality Michelle Visage on her podcast, Ms Price discussed her bankruptcy and said she had recently been to court “more times than I’ve had hot dinners” and would “genuinely” not care if she was jailed.

In March 2023, she told Jeremy Vine’s Channel 5 show that people should not be “ashamed” of being declared bankrupt and she had been struggling with her mental health in recent years.

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She also apologised to the court during an October 2020 hearing, saying: “I just haven’t been able to deal with these issues or in the right mental state to understand everything that has been going on.”

Sky News has approached Ms Price for comment.

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R Kelly appeals to overturn 30-year sex crime sentence

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R Kelly appeals to overturn 30-year sex crime sentence

R Kelly has appealed to a New York court to overturn a 30-year racketeering sentence, served to him in 2022.

The R&B singer – whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly – was found guilty of racketeering and trafficking following a high-profile trial in New York in 2021.

It followed years of accusations throughout his career.

He was served an additional year in prison on charges relating to indecent images of children and child enticement in Chicago last year.

Kelly – who was not present at the appeal – alleges that prosecutors failed to prove their racketeering claim or that he violated several women.

He also says he was denied a fair trial because several jurors prejudged his guilt, his lawyer provided ineffective counsel, and the jury was “swamped” by excessive evidence of other alleged bad acts.

Kelly was defended in the appeal hearing by lawyer Jennifer Bonjean, who began by disputing the definition of a RICO enterprise (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) and whether there has to be anything inherently illegal about such an organisation.

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Speaking about Kelly’s team of staff, and whether they were aware of “what happened behind closed doors,” she said that while “there were rules and things, [the staff] did these anodyne tasks that were perhaps a little unusual, but not that put them on notice that what was happening behind closed doors was illegal”.

When asked about staff’s specific knowledge of the age of girls recruited to come and see Kelly backstage, Ms Bonjean said: “I do not believe there was any evidence that the employee would book travel for someone who was in fact under the age of consent.”

Kelly’s brief marriage to pop star Aaliyah

Representing the United States, assistant US attorney Kayla Bensing said Kelly “had a system in place that lured young people into his orbit, and then he took over their lives”.

She went on to describe women aged 16 or 17 invited by members of Kelly’s staff to come backstage, including one who she said was invited by Kelly’s bouncers to come backstage at a concert in Miami.

She said that was “three days after Kelly’s marriage to Aaliyah, in which he bribed a county official in order to hide or alleviate the consequences of illegal sexual activity”.

She also spoke about a former runner to Kelly, who described his girlfriends as “looking very young, specifically middle-aged teenagers”.

Ms Bensing also said there was evidence Kelly’s team knew he had been infected with herpes while having unprotected sex with his victims.

Claims of forced labour

She finally bought the claim of forced labour into the case, describing Kelly as “obtaining labour and services, here sex acts, through threats of serious harm or physical restraint against the victims”.

In her three-minute rebuttal of the argument, Ms Bonjean said the forced labour counts “were premised on a single act,” adding, “so unless the court is prepared to say that a single act of oral sex, even if it’s forced, frankly constitutes forced labour, that is just making federal law co-extensive with state law”.

She also said the government was taking the position that “a RICO enterprise cannot not be rooted in criminality,” which she described as “unique” and “not supported” by previous cases.

The judges will now consider the appeal, and will issue a written decision at a later date.

Under his current convictions, Kelly, who is 57, will not be eligible for release until he is 80 years old.

Kelly rose from poverty to become one of the world’s biggest R&B stars. He became known for chart-topping hits including I Believe I Can Fly, Bump ‘N’ Grind and Ignition.

Although abuse allegations began circulating in the 1990s, widespread outrage followed the #MeToo reckoning and the 2019 series Surviving R Kelly.

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