A live music venue in Lincoln has apologised to some gig-goers for “unacceptable treatment” after a number of men arriving alone to watch a The Last Dinner Party show flagged “strange” and “condescending” behaviour.
The Engine Shed – which bills itself as Lincolnshire‘s largest live music venue – put out a statement on its official Instagram page to say what happened fell “far short of our venue entry policy, which requires all attendees to be treated equally and be subject to the same entry requirements”.
Ahead of the gig, which had been scheduled for Saturday night, several men posted on social media saying they had been quizzed on their knowledge of the band before they were given entry.
Image: The Last Dinner Party at the Brit Awards 2024
One fan called Dan wrote on X: “Just arrived at the gig, been funnelled into a dark corner with other men, told I might be a pervert cus I’m alone and then taken into a room alone with a security guard where I was interrogated and searched. Feel sick.”
He said he had also been asked what his favourite Last Dinner Party song was by staff.
A man called Paul wrote on X: “I rocked up there tonight at 8.45 on my own, no queue, I got asked how long I had liked them for, and to name my favourite song.
“I thought it was a bit strange and the first time I’ve ever felt like I’m on mastermind to get into a gig. Now I’ve read this I understand why now.”
Image: The Last Dinner Party At Reading Festival.
Pic: Cover Images/AP
He went on: “I just told him, Nothing Matters and said a line of the song and he was fine. It does sound like they were targeting single men, I wonder if there’s been trouble at previous gigs.”
A second man called Kam Zagi wrote on X: “Same here, I queued for 7 hours to get to barrier as I am 4′ 11′, got whisked away, searched, asked condescending questions, didn’t get to barrier…”
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Later, commenting on the Engine Shed’s statement, he wrote: “this.is.a.disgrace [sic]. I won’t be attending any rescheduled dates based on the way I was treated last night & I am not alone.”
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The Shed Engine said in its statement it had “urgently” carried out a provisional investigation, saying “ad-hoc changes” had been made to its policy due to information “provided to our security team about incidents at a previous The Last Dinner Party gig”.
The venue went on to say the policy was changed “with the right intentions”, but that it “resulted in the unacceptable treatment of some guests”.
It “fully apologised” to anyone affected and said further training would be given to staff on door entry policy as “an urgent measure… to ensure that this cannot happen again”.
The Engine Shed encouraged anyone who felt they had been discriminated against to reach out.
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Around half an hour before the Lincoln performance was due to start, the Mercury-nominated band pulled out of the show, “due to a band member unexpectedly falling ill and being unable to perform”.
In another statement, the venue apologised to fans for the “last minute” cancellation, adding, “This decision was not taken lightly as the band and the promoter were hopeful that the member would recover from the illness to be able to perform”.
The band, who are currently touring the UK and Ireland, cancelled a gig in Cardiff which had been due to take place on Sunday, telling fans on social media it was “cancelled due to illness” and they were “truly sorry”.
The Last Dinner Party are next due to perform on Tuesday in Birmingham.
Image: The Last Dinner Party performing at Leeds Festival 2024. Pic: PA
An indie rock band, The Last Dinner Party are made up by Abigail Morris, Lizzie Mayland, Emily Roberts, Georgia Davies and Aurora Nishevci, and formed in 2020 after meeting at university in London.
Last year they won the Brit rising star award, with their debut album – Prelude To Ecstasy – reaching number one in the UK albums chart when it was released in February.
MasterChef presenter John Torode says an allegation he used “racial language” was upheld in a report as part of a review into the behaviour of his former co-presenter Gregg Wallace.
There were also two standalone allegations made against other people.
In a statement posted on his Instagram page, Torode said he was one of those people, but added that he had “no recollection of the incident” and said he “did not believe that it happened”.
He commented: “Following publication of the executive summary of the investigation into Gregg Wallace while working on MasterChef, I am aware of speculation that I am one of the two other individuals against whom an allegation has been upheld.
“For the sake of transparency, I confirm that I am the individual who is alleged to have used racial language on one occasion.
“The allegation is that I did so sometime in 2018 or 2019, in a social situation, and that the person I was speaking with did not believe that it was intended in a malicious way and that I apologised immediately afterwards.
“I have absolutely no recollection of any of this, and I do not believe that it happened.
“However, I want to be clear that I’ve always had the view that any racial language is wholly unacceptable in any environment. I’m shocked and saddened by the allegation as I would never wish to cause anyone any offence.”
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
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.
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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.
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.
Image: 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.
A man has been arrested on suspicion of assault and sexual assault – which reportedly took place on the set of EastEnders.
The alleged incident happened on the set of the BBC soap at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire, according to The Sun newspaper.
Hertfordshire Police confirmed a man in his 50s was arrested after the report in Eldon Avenue, Borehamwood, on 7 May.
The man is accused of sexual assault and common assault in relation to two victims, the force said.
The suspect is on bail while inquiries continue, police added.
EastEnders said in a statement: “While we would never comment on individuals, EastEnders has on-site security and well-established procedures in place to safeguard the safety and welfare of everyone who works on the show.”