Employees at ITV’s This Morning were subjected to “bullying, discrimination and harassment”, according to staff members who have spoken out after Phillip Schofield’s departure from the programme.
Some of the workers claim they attempted to raise concerns about the ITV programme only to face “further bullying and discrimination” by bosses for speaking out.
The allegations were published by MPs on the House of Commons culture select committee, which is looking into the circumstances surrounding Schofield’s resignation earlier this year. The presenter quit the show after accepting he had misled ITV bosses about his relationship with a younger colleague.
The Conservative MP Caroline Dinenage said her committee had since been “contacted by a large number of individuals” who had worked on This Morning or other ITV daytime programmes, adding: “These individuals speak with great pride about working at ITV and are hugely positive about many of their colleagues. However, they also raise claims of toxic working cultures, bullying, discrimination and harassment.”
She said some had ended up agreeing settlements to leave ITV and suggested their allegations showed ITV was either “unwilling or unable to examine whether there are cultural issues within This Morning”.
“Some of those individuals who have contacted us have described how their decision to raise concerns within ITV has led to further bullying and discrimination, and in some cases having to leave the organisation with a settlement agreement.”
Dinenage made the allegations in a letter to the ITV chief executive, Carolyn McCall. The MP suggested it was “easy to understand” why the individuals left ITV and “do not wish to relive their traumatic experiences” again.
In the correspondence, MPs also accused the ITV programming boss, Kevin Lygo, of being “inconsistent” in his explanation about who decided Schofield should leave This Morning.
Schofield quit after admitting to an “unwise but not illegal” affair with a younger male colleague on the show, saying in his resignation statement that “ITV has decided the current situation can’t go on”. Lygo later told MPs that Schofield had wanted to step down.
In her response, McCall insisted there was no inconsistency between the two statements, saying: “As made clear, Mr Schofield expressed a desire to leave This Morning but Kevin Lygo was the ultimate arbiter of such issues – following discussions with everyone involved.
“As we made clear to you and the committee, we are absolutely committed to enabling people to raise any issues or complaints they may have about working at ITV.
“We always take these seriously and will investigate and take whatever action is appropriate. However, we are unable to do so if we cannot engage with those people.”
She encouraged anyone with complaints about working on the ITV show to make a confidential report through the SafeCall service, or directly to the barrister Jane Mulcahy KC, who is conducting a review of the circumstances surrounding Schofield’s departure.
McCall also confirmed that Mulcahy was expected to report the findings of her investigation in September.
