Phillip Schofield affair reaction was ‘totally homophobic’, says Sir Elton John
Sir Elton John has said the reaction to Phillip Schofield’s secret affair with a younger colleague was “totally homophobic”.
The 76-year-old singer claimed a heterosexual relationship with a similar age gap would not have attracted such negative media coverage.
“I feel that the Phillip Schofield thing has been totally homophobic,” he told the Radio Times.
“If it was a straight guy in a fling with a young woman, it wouldn’t even make the papers.”
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Schofield fallout explained
Schofield, 61, departed ITV programme This Morning last month after admitting to an “unwise but not illegal” relationship with a younger male colleague, which he had lied about for years.
The fallout saw ITV announce an external review, and bosses at the broadcaster were called to give evidence in parliament about claims of a “toxic” workplace.
Schofield apologised in a statement on social media and during subsequent interviews with The Sun and the BBC, saying he had “lost everything” while also alleging homophobia had motivated the criticism of him.
“It’s accepted by Leonardo DiCaprio, it’s not accepted if it’s in the gay world,” he claimed.
LGBTQ+ rights campaigner Peter Tatchell and actor Rupert Everett also criticised the reaction to the affair.
Tatchell said it had “more than a whiff of homophobia”, while Everett described it as “insane”.
Read more:
ITV questioning as it happened
What we learned from Philip Schofield’s interviews
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Schofield: ‘Do you want me to die?’
Sir Elton’s comments came as he denounced the treatment of LGBTQ+ people in the US as “disgraceful”.
“It’s all going pear-shaped in America,” said the Rocketman performer.
“There’s violence, (discriminatory) laws enacted in Florida, which are disgraceful.”
Among the legislation introduced by Governor Ron DeSantis are school teachers being banned from giving lessons about sexual orientation, and doctors being given permission to deny treatments to LGBTQ+ patients.
Sir Elton said hate towards his community was spreading “like a virus”.
His interview with the Radio Times comes ahead of his performance at Glastonbury this weekend.
The I’m Still Standing star will headline the festival’s Pyramid Stage on 25 June.
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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