Gregg Wallace apologises over ‘women of a certain age’ video
MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace has apologised for his response to claims he made sexual comments towards staff and celebrity guests on a range of programmes over 17 years.
At the weekend, the BBC host issued a defiant response to mounting allegations against him, dismissing his accusers as “middle-class women of a certain age” in a series of videos posted on Instagram.
His comments were met with huge criticism – including from Downing Street, where a spokesperson for the prime minister described them as “completely inappropriate and misogynistic” – while industry union Bectu has said the allegations also raise questions about wider cultural issues.
Now, in a follow-up clip shared this afternoon, Wallace has said: “I want to apologise for any offence that I caused with my post yesterday and any upset I may have caused to a lot of people.
“I wasn’t in a good head space when I posted it I’ve been under a huge amount of stress a lot of emotion I felt very alone, under siege yesterday when I posted it.
“It’s obvious to me I need to take some time out now while this investigation is under way. I hope you understand and I do hope you accept this apology.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Gregg Wallace’s initial response to allegations
Wallace has stepped away from presenting MasterChef while the allegations, which were made public last week, are looked into.
His lawyers have said “it is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature”.
Broadcaster Kirsty Wark is among 13 people who have made claims, with the presenter being investigated by MasterChef’s production company Banijay UK.
One former contestant told Sky News the allegations against the 60-year-old are just the “tip of the iceberg” – claiming he witnessed a “toxic environment” and was so “horrified” he considered quitting the show on his first day. The problem was “systemic” and “larger” than just the presenter, he said.
Read more:
An epic failure in crisis management
What are the allegations – and what has Wallace said?
Wallace (right) has presented MasterChef with John Torode for years. Pic: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock
Earlier on Monday, the prime minister’s official spokesman said Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy had spoken with BBC leadership last week, about Wallace and “wider workplace culture” issues.
“Clearly the comments we have seen from the individual over the weekend were completely inappropriate and misogynistic,” the spokesperson said.
“More broadly the BBC is conducting an independent review into workplace culture which must deliver clear and timely recommendations. It’s essential that staff and the wider public have confidence that the BBC takes these issues seriously.”
Former Celebrity MasterChef contestants Ulrika Jonsson, Kirstie Allsopp and Emma Kennedy were among those who criticised Wallace’s response to the initial allegations.
Kirstie Allsopp is among the stars who have spoken out about Wallace. Pic: Jonathan Brady/PA 2024
‘They think they’re untouchable’
Labour MP Dr Rupa Huq, who sits on the culture, media and sport committee, said the comments showed “an astonishing lack of self-awareness” from the presenter.
She told Sky News: “Middle class, what’s that supposed to mean? That working class people like a bit of bawdy humour? And, ‘of a certain age’? That kind of behaviour is just not acceptable.”
The controversy raises questions about the “imbalance” in the industry, Ms Huq said, and how presenters and “talent” can be “cosseted”.
“The reason why older women feel able to speak out is that they’re at a position in their career that they feel able to say this, whereas I think you’ve got huge imbalances in broadcasting. The presenters, probably, cosseted, they’re being told they’re talent, they think they’re untouchable, they can get away with this kind of thing.
“So many of these allegations keep surfacing that it is time to investigate them. At the other end, you’ve got the younger runner or whoever, who is very eager to please, in these precarious short-term contracts, who doesn’t want to speak out of line and be gone. So it raises questions about that show and about the wider industry.
“On the committee, we have looked at these kind of issues before, but it it will feel to the viewer that these kind of scandals just keep happening.”
In response to reports that multiple complaints had been raised with the BBC, a source for the corporation said it would not comment on individuals or any internal HR processes, but that it would be “wrong to report the BBC has done nothing if or when matters have been raised with us – not least because it is already being widely reported there were interventions in both 2017 and 2018 where action was taken”.
Allegations were also raised by staff members about Wallace’s behaviour on Channel 5’s Gregg Wallace’s Big Weekends to BBC News, with producer Rumpus Media saying it would be investigating allegations of “inappropriate behaviour”.
Banijay UK has confirmed it has appointed law firm Lewis Silkin to lead an investigation into Wallace’s alleged behaviour.
A woman who saw a man falling from an upper tier at Wembley Stadium says a similar incident at an Oasis concert over the weekend in which a fan died makes her wonder whether lessons have been learned.
Stephanie Good, 39, said a man fell during a Euro 2020 match between England and Croatia at Wembley in June 2021.
He landed “right next to where we were” on the “stairwell between rows of seats”, she said.
Named as Jon, he reportedly survived but suffered two broken ankles, a fractured femur and fractured pelvis just before kick-off.
Ms Good said she tried to give feedback but was unable to and felt the “emergency response was really lacking”.
Oasis, meanwhile, said they were “shocked and saddened to hear of the tragic death of a fan” at their Wembley concert on Saturday.
The man reportedly fell from the stadium’s upper tier.
In his 40s, he was found with “injuries consistent with a fall” and pronounced dead at the scene, the Met Police said.
Ms Good, an NHS manager from east London, said what happened at the Oasis gig was “so similar” to what she witnessed that it made her wonder “were lessons learned”?
Liam and Noel Gallagher on stage for the first Wembley night of the Oasis reunion tour. Pic: Lewis Evans
During that incident, among stadium staff “nobody seemed to know what to do”, she told the Press Association.
She thinks the man may have been trying to attach a flag to the front of a stand and “somehow managed to fall straight over”.
She said: “They (staff) didn’t seem well-trained in terms of how to respond to a really big emergency.
“Their stewards were kind of paralysed a little bit by fear, or they just weren’t well trained and didn’t know how to call for paramedics.
“It was us who were sort of shouting at them that they needed to get some paramedics.
“The first person on the scene wasn’t a stadium paramedic or St John Ambulance. It was an off-duty firefighter who had seen the guy fall and ran down to just try and offer some help.”
Read more:
Tommy Robinson bailed after arrest over alleged assault
Police should be ‘more transparent’ over suspects, home sec says
Regarding the follow-up, Ms Good said staff moved spectators to other seats but did not ask for witness statements.
She added: “They didn’t seek any input from people who’d seen the incident or the aftermath of it. They didn’t seem interested in speaking to anybody about it.
“I was a bit concerned, because I felt that the emergency response was really lacking.”
She then tried to get in touch to give feedback, but was unable to do so and did not receive a response to a message on social media, she said.
A Wembley spokesperson said: “Wembley Stadium operates to a very high health and safety standard, fully meeting legal requirements for the safety of spectators and staff, and is certified to and compliant with the ISO 45001 standard.
“We work very closely and collaboratively with all relevant event delivery stakeholders – including event owners, local authorities, the Sports Grounds Safety Authority and the police – to deliver events to high standards of safety, security and service for everyone attending or working in the venue.”
Sean “Diddy” Combs has been denied bail ahead of his sentencing on prostitution-related charges.
Judge Arun Subramanian said the hip-hop mogul had failed to show sufficient evidence he is not a flight risk and also cited admissions of previous violence made during his trial.
Combs, 55, has been in prison since his arrest in September last year.
During a two-month trial, jurors heard allegations that he had coerced former girlfriends, including singer and model Cassie Ventura, into having drug-fuelled sex marathons with male sex workers, while he watched and filmed them.
Diddy fell to his knees after the verdict was delivered last month. Pic: Reuters/ Jane Rosenberg
In July, he was found guilty of two counts of transportation for prostitution – but cleared of more serious charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex-trafficking, which carried potential life sentences.
The rapper’s legal team hailed this a “victory” and immediately applied for bail ahead of sentencing, citing his acquittal on the top charges.
After this was denied, they submitted another application last week. Judge Subramanian has now rejected the request again.
In denying the motion for bail, the judge found Combs had failed to show sufficient evidence to counter arguments he is a flight risk, writing in a court filing: “Increasing the amount of the bond or devising additional conditions doesn’t change the calculus given the circumstances and heavy burden of proof that Combs bears.”
Read more:
How the trial unfolded
The rise and fall of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
Judge Arun Subramanian heard Diddy’s trial and will also sentence the rapper
He also found that an argument by the music star’s legal team that the squalor and danger of the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), where he is being held, did not warrant release.
“The public outcry concerning these conditions has come from all corners,” the judge wrote. “But as Combs acknowledges, MDC staff has been able to keep him safe and attend to his needs, even during an incident of threatened violence from an inmate.”
As well as Combs’s bail application, his legal team has also filed a motion calling for him to be acquitted or given a new trial on the prostitution-related charges only.
The judge has not yet responded to this application.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
How the Diddy trial unfolded
How long could Diddy be jailed for?
Combs is due to be sentenced on 3 October and could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.
Discussions on sentencing guidelines which followed the jury’s verdict suggest it is unlikely he will be jailed for this long, with an estimate of around two to five years, taking into account time already served.
However, it is ultimately up to Judge Arun Subramanian to decide the rapper’s punishment.
On Friday, Donald Trump was asked during an interview about a potential pardon for Combs following speculation about the issue.
The president said it was unlikely, adding that the rapper was “very hostile” during his presidential campaign.
Combs, who co-founded Bad Boy Records and launched the career of the late Notorious BIG, was for decades a huge figure in pop culture – a Grammy-winning hip-hop artist and business entrepreneur, who presided over an empire ranging from fashion to reality TV.
As well as the criminal conviction, he is also facing several civil lawsuits.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike