A senior ITV chief reprimanded This Morning editor Martin Frizell for making a bizarre comment about aubergines when a reporter quizzed him about the alleged toxic work environment on the under fire programme.
Sitting before a Department of Culture, Media and Sport select committee today, the broadcaster’s head of strategy, policy and regulation Magnus Brooke said that Mr Frizell’s response to the Sky News journalist was ‘ill-judged.’
The question came after Mr Frizell was asked on Sunday by the journalist if there is a ‘toxic’ work environment at This Morning, to which he replied: ‘I’ll tell you what’s toxic and I’ve always found it toxic. Aubergine. Do you like aubergine? Do you? Do you like aubergine because I don’t like aubergine. It’s just a personal thing.’
Many ITV staff were left outraged at the comments, which came on the eve of Holly Willoughby’s return to the programme after two weeks off amid Phillip Schofield’s departure.
They are now said to be ‘petrified’ of telling the inquiry the truth.
Scottish National Party MP John Nicolson at the Culture, Media and Sport Committee today
Magnus Brooke, ITV ‘s director of strategy, policy and regulation, was also at the session today
MPs and TV executives at the Culture, Media and Sport Committee hearing this morning
Chair Caroline Dinenage had insisted that the session would be about the Draft Media Bill
And yesterday pressure mounted on Mr Frizell, the husband of former GMTV presenter Fiona Phillips, when MP and former ITV news presenter John Nicolson described him at the hearing as a ‘person responsible for safeguarding young staff’ and that he had been ‘outrageously dismissive and flippant on camera about an immensely serious issue’.
Adding that he would not have liked to have been a young This Morning employee raising bullying with the editor.
Mr Brooke replied: ‘Let me reassure you Mr Nicolson that we take those issues very seriously,’ and when pushed by Mr Nicolson, Mr Brooke added: ‘I wouldn’t endorse what he said, in fact.’
The politician then asked Mr Brooke: ‘You agree it’s bizarre?’ to which a stuttering Mr Brooke said: ‘I wouldn’t use that word.’
Mr Nicolson then said: ‘What word would you use?’ to which Mr Brooke responded: ‘I’d certainly say it was extremely ill-judged to say what he did, but look I can reassure you on behalf of ITV that we do take all of theses allegations very seriously precisely because we do have a culture in which people’s conduct matters enormously to ITV.’
Mr Brooke declined to answer whether Mr Frizell’s job at the channel was safe, adding that the company recently launched an external investigation which is being conducted by Jane Mulcahy KC into what took place behind the scenes of This Morning – which is currently fighting for its life after almost 35 years on air.
He added: ‘If we find bullying… we’d expect people to report it, and we’d expect it to dealt with appropriately, and it will be.’
Mr Brooke also stressed that the channel takes its ‘responsibilities in relation to safeguarding and duty of care very seriously’ and that bullying and harassment at work is ‘unacceptable’.
Mr Nicolson began his questioning with a swipe at Ms Willoughby, 42, by asking Mr Brooke if he was ‘okay.’
The admission came as ITV daytime staff were yesterday invited to a meeting in the Loose Women studios at the network’s West London studios. Head of daytime Emma Gormley, who was Mr Frizell’s deputy when he was the editor of the now defunct breakfast show GMTV, is understood to be taking questions from staff.
One told the Daily Mail: ‘People are angry, they want to know what is going on. Can you imagine going into Martin’s office now to speak up.’
In 2019 Mr Frizell, 64, was the subject of an investigation after a woman employee made a complaint about him. The inquiry, which was conducted by another senior member of ITV staff, found no evidence of her claims.
Holly Willoughby asked viewers on her return This Morning yesterday: ‘Firstly, are you OK?’
This Morning editor Martin Frizell arrives at Television Centre in London’s White City yesterday
Mr Nicolson today poked fun at Ms Willoughby’s on-air statement on her return to This Morning, asking Mr Brooke: ‘Are you OK?’.
He was referencing Ms Willoughby’s statement yesterday which saw her begin her first show following Mr Schofield’s exit by asking viewers: ‘Firstly, are you OK?’
The MP also criticised Mr Frizell over his ‘surreal and bizarre’ answer to questions about bullying in which he talked about aubergines. Mr Brooke said the comments were ‘ill-judged’ and refused to say if the editor’s job was safe.
Earlier in the Culture, Media and Sport Committee session, chair Caroline Dinenage had insisted that today would be about the Draft Media Bill – and not This Morning.
She said they would instead wait to discuss issues about Schofield leaving the show when ITV chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall is before MPs next week on June 14.
But Mr Nicolson was keen to focus on Schofield, and told Mr Brooke: ‘As the chair has explained, we’re going to have the boss of ITV before us very soon to talk about the news story that’s dominating at the moment.
‘But I think it would be very odd if we had someone very senior like yourself from ITV without asking a couple of questions about the story about This Morning.
‘I suppose I should ask first of all – are you OK?’
Appearing startled by the question, Mr Brooke replied: ‘Am I OK? Yes, I’m fine thank you.’
Mr Nicolson then continued: ‘Good, because I know that’s the question du jour at This Morning. I spent some time at the weekend talking to whistleblowers from ITV including people who work and have worked in This Morning. It seems like a very unhappy place.
‘Are you satisfied with the duty of care that the editorial team and senior managers provide to staff especially young staff working there and at ITV more generally?’
Mr Brooke replied: ‘I think there’s a very sophisticated and significant system of safeguarding and duty of care at ITV with a very significant set of policies. We have a code of conduct which sets out our expectations about how people behave.
‘And that deals with a number of different issues – from equal opportunities to respect of work, dignity and understanding. And we then have an important set of requirements which hold people to account internally.’
But Mr Nicolson then asked him why so many former and current staff were ‘unhappy’.
But Mr Brooke said he could not ‘answer that question at the moment’, and referred to how ITV had appointed top London barrister Jane Mulcahy KC to investigate the ‘circumstances’.
Mr Nicolson went on: ‘Yes I know, you already had an inquiry of course, and we’ll come onto this on the 14th [of June] in more detail, but several claims ITV made about that previous enquiry don’t seem to quite hold water on closer inspection. What do you make about the bullying allegations that we’ve heard over the last week?’
Mr Brooke replied: ‘What do I make of them?’
And Mr Nicolson continued: ‘Yeah, what do you make of them as a senior ITV official – what do you feel when you hear staff complain about bullying, because that’s the worst thing you can possibly hear surely, as a senior manager?’
Mr Brooke then said: ‘Look, we take our responsibilities in relation to safeguarding and duty of care very seriously. Bullying is absolutely in breach of our code of conduct, it’s very clearly set out.
‘We have a set of policies around bullying and harassment at work. And clearly, bullying is unacceptable. If we find bullying that’s inconsistent with our policy, we’d expect people to report it and we’d expect it to be dealt with appropriately. And it will be.’
Mr Nicolson then went on to criticise This Morning editor Martin Frizell for his answer to questions about allegations of a ‘toxic’ work environment at ITV.
Mr Frizell was approached by Sky News ahead of Willoughby’s return to the show.
Asked if there is a ‘toxic’ work environment at This Morning, he replied: ‘I’ll tell you what’s toxic and I’ve always found it toxic. Aubergine. Do you like aubergine? Do you? Do you like aubergine because I don’t like aubergine. It’s just a personal thing.’
And Mr Nicolson said today: ‘And of course the person they would have reported to in the first instance would be the editor of the programme. And we all saw yesterday that surreal performance by the editor of the programme who when he was being asked by a reporter from Sky about bullying on the programme started talking about aubergines.
‘It was surreal and bizarre. I think most people watching that would have thought this is the person responsible for safeguarding young staff. He’s being outrageously dismissive and flippant on camera about an immensely serious issue.
‘I wouldn’t like to have been a young staffer going and talking to that editor about bullying given that that’s the way he treats the subject matter on camera in public.’
Mr Brooke then said: ‘Let me reassure you Mr Nicolson that we take these issues very seriously.’
But Mr Nicolson asked him: ‘But what about what he said?’
Mr Brooke replied: ‘I wouldn’t endorse what he said. ‘
Mr Nicolson said: ‘You agree it’s bizarre?
And Mr Brooke added: ‘I wouldn’t use that word.’
Pressing him, Mr Nicolson then said: ‘What word would you use?
And Mr Brooke responded: ‘I would certainly say it was extremely ill-judged to say what he did. But I can assure you on behalf of ITV that we do take all of these allegations very seriously, precisely because we do have a culture in which people’s conduct matters enormously.’
Asked by Mr Nicolson if Mr Frizell’s position was ‘secure after that’, Mr Brooke said: ‘That’s not a question for me and it’s not a question for now.
‘One of the ways in which we’ve demonstrated we’re taking this seriously is by appointing a very senior KC who’s got very significant experience in dealing with HR and particularly sensitive investigations.
Holly Willoughby was joined by Josie Gibson on her return to This Morning yesterday
Willoughby appears emotional alongside co-host Josie Gibson and they share a hug yesterday
Holly Willoughby and co-presenter Josie Gibson hold hands on This Morning yesterday
‘Because there are multiple things we have to take into account here around privacy and so on, and it’s appropriate that actually the KC establishes the facts, gets to the bottom of what’s happened, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.’
This was not the first time Mr Nicolson had criticised Mr Frizell’s reaction.
Yesterday, he tweeted in response to the Sky News clip: ‘This is a deeply inappropriate and disrespectful way to respond to questions about safeguarding vulnerable staff and bullying in the workplace at ITV.’
Former This Morning presenter Eamonn Holmes and former resident doctor Dr Ranj Singh have both made allegations of a ‘toxic’ culture behind the scenes.
Holmes has alleged there was a ‘total cover-up’ over the Schofield affair, while Dr Ranj said he raised concerns about ‘bullying and discrimination’ two years ago when he worked there and afterwards felt like he was ‘managed out’ for whistleblowing.
In a letter from ITV boss Dame Carolyn McCall to Parliament last Wednesday, she said an external review conducted following a complaint made by Dr Ranj found ‘no evidence of bullying or discrimination’.
Meanwhile, former This Morning head of news Emily Maddick, who worked on the show from September to December 2019, claimed she quit the programme due to ‘bullying, sexism and a toxic culture of fear and intimidation’.
On Saturday, Mr Frizell told a Sky News reporter to ‘read between the lines’ amid claims of toxicity, adding: ‘I think there’s some scores being settled.’
Dame Carolyn has been called to a parliamentary committee on June 14 to answer questions about the broadcaster’s approach to safeguarding and complaint handling following Schofield’s exit.
She has confirmed she has instructed barrister Jane Mulcahy KC of Blackstone Chambers to carry out an external review of the facts.
Today’s committee hearing also featured Khalid Hayat, director of strategy and consumer insight at Channel 4, and Mitchell Simmons, vice president of public policy and Government affairs at Paramount.
It comes after Willoughby made an emotional return to This Morning, saying she felt ‘shaken, troubled, let down and worried’ about the events that led to Schofield’s departure from the ITV programme.
Phillip Schofield told the BBC last week that Holly did not know about the affair
Willoughby appeared on screen for the first time yesterday following the shock departure of her former co-host Schofield and his subsequent revelation of an affair with a younger ITV male employee.
Seated next to her temporary co-host Josie Gibson, Willoughby said: ‘Josie, thank you for being here. Right, deep breath.’
She continued: ‘Firstly, are you OK? I hope so. It feels very strange indeed sitting here without Phil. And I imagine that you might have been feeling a lot like I have – shaken, troubled, let down, worried for the wellbeing of people on all sides of what’s been going on, and full of questions.’
During interviews last week, Schofield told The Sun and the BBC that Willoughby did not know about the ‘unwise, but not illegal’ affair, and has apologised for lying to her.
Dressed in a sleeveless white buttoned dress, Willoughby continued: ‘You, me and all of us at This Morning gave our love and support to someone who was not telling the truth, who acted in a way that they themselves felt that they had to resign from ITV, and step down from a career that they loved. That is a lot to process.
Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby on the sofa of ITV’s This Morning last month, on May 11
‘And it’s equally hard to see the toll that it’s taken on their own mental health. I think what unites us all now is a desire to heal, for the health and wellbeing of everyone.’
Schofield has spoken about the toll the fallout of the scandal has had on his mental health, telling The Sun it has had a ‘catastrophic effect’ on his mind and he is currently getting by ‘hour by hour’.
In a statement she wrote herself, Willoughby thanked viewers for their support, saying: ‘I hope that as we start this new chapter, and get back to a place of warmth and magic that this show holds for all of us, we can find strength in each other.
‘And from my heart, can I just say thank you for all of your kind messages and thank you for being here this morning.
‘Myself, Josie, Dermot (O’Leary), Alison (Hammond), Craig (Doyle), and every single person that works on this show will continue to work hard every single day to bring you that, this show that we love.’
Willoughby also made her return to social media on Tuesday for the first time since Schofield’s explosive departure from This Morning.
The TV presenter has not shared a permanent post on her personal Instagram account since May 18.
On Tuesday she shared a photo of herself in the dress she will wear for the live broadcast, which she will host with Josie Gibson.
Sporting a floral Ghost dress and nude high heeled sandals, Willoughby can be seen smiling for the camera.
She captioned the post: ‘Morning Tuesday… see you on @thismorning at 10am with @josiegibson85… the wonderful @sarah.beeny joins us today to talk about her incredibly important and personal documentary.’
