ITV bosses hire barrister to carry out external review of Phillip Schofield's affair

Elton John has claimed that the response to Phillip Schofield’s secret affair with a younger colleague was “totally homophobic”.The comments come in light of the television host’s recent departure from the ITV daytime show This Morning, after he admitted to having an affair with a much younger male colleague.Schofield, 61, was a host on the show since 2002, and quit last month after admitting to an “unwise but not illegal” relationship with a male runner. In the time since the affair came to light, the TV personality has faced immense scrutiny from numerous news outlets and the public.Now, Sir Elton has spoken out against the response that people have had towards Schofield in a new interview with Radio Times, and suggested that the reaction would be much different if he was straight.“I feel that the Phillip Schofield thing has been totally homophobic,” he said in the discussion.

Sir Elton John has come out in defence of Phillip Schofield and said the backlash from his affair is due to homophobia.

Sir Elton John has said the reaction to Phillip Schofield’s affair with a younger colleague is “totally homophobic”. In an interview with the Radio Times, the 76-year-old singer claimed a heterosexual relationship with a similar age gap would not have attracted such negative coverage. Sir Elton made the comments as he denounced the status of LGBT+ rights and individuals in America, which he compared to the treatment of the former This Morning presenter.The acclaimed musician, famous for hits including Your Song and Candle In The Wind, said: “Well, it’s all going pear-shaped in America.There’s violence, (discriminatory) laws enacted in Florida, which are disgraceful.

K.J. Yossman On Wednesday morning, ITV boss Carolyn McCall appeared in front of a Parliamentary committee to be grilled over the network’s culture and duty of care in the wake of the Phillip Schofield scandal. Schofield, a long-time anchor on ITV’s flagship daytime show “This Morning,” resigned last month in ignominy shortly before admitting to an affair with a young male runner on the show while he was married (Schofield has two adult daughters with his wife, Stephanie). Some have questioned the intensity of the coverage, which has unsurprisingly taken a mental toll on both Schofield and his former lover, especially since the affair was, in the anchor’s own words, “unwise but not illegal.” But there are a number of elements – not least the runner’s age – that catalyzed the media tsunami that now threatens to take down not only Schofield but his former co-host Holly Willoughby as well as various network executives including McCall.

The boss of ITV has hit back at accusations that the 'vast majority knew' about Phillip Schofield's affair. The presenter stepped back as host of This Morning after rumours of a 'feud' between him and co-host Holly Willoughby behind the scenes hit the headlines.

This Morning viewers appeared distracted from the latest edition of the show as they focused on claims made by an MP during a grilling of ITV bosses. Dame Carolyn McCall faced questions from MPs on Wednesday (June 14) about Phillip Schofield's shock exit from the network.

“We do not recognise a toxic culture at This Morning,” ITV boss Carolyn McCall has said bullishly during her committee hearing on the Phillip Schofield affair.

ITV boss Carolyn McCall has said “no evidence” was brought to her and her team during Phillip Schofield’s affair with a much younger runner as she indicated the relationship was “deeply inappropriate.”

Martin Frizell, the Editor of embattled ITV daytime show This Morning, has been rebuked by his employer for “extremely ill-judged” remarks about eggplants when questioned over the Phillip Schofield scandal.

Dan Walker has spoken out about the ongoing scandal surrounding Phillip Schofield and his affair with a 'much younger' male colleague.

This Morning's Holly Willoughby was on holiday in Portugal when she discovered a barrister had been appointed to investigate Phillip Schofield's affair with a young ITV co-worker.

K.J. Yossman ITV CEO Carolyn McCall has been asked to give evidence to the Parliamentary committee for Culture, Media and Sport (CMS) over an affair between former ITV anchor Phillip Schofield and a young employee. The CMS Committee requested McCall’s presence in a letter published today. Read the full letter below: Thank you for your letter of 31 May 2023 setting out ITV’s response to the reports of a relationship between Phillip Schofield and a young employee on the This Morning programme.The Committee regards the media industry’s duty of care towards its staff a matter of the highest importance. Whilst the recent coverage focuses on the Schofield case, it also raises fundamental issues about safeguarding and complaint handling both at ITV and more widely across the media. These issues should, particularly in the case of Public Service Broadcasters, be open to scrutiny.The public must have confidence in the robustness of Public Service Broadcasters’ safeguarding procedures. Whilst these are issues that we want to discuss first with ITV, we will also consider them in our regular scrutiny sessions with other Public Service Broadcasters, including the BBC later this month and Channel 4 later in the year.With this in mind, we look forward to meeting with you at 10am on Wednesday 14th June so that we can raise these issues with you directly. This will enable the session previously scheduled with ITV and other commercial Public Service Broadcasters on 6th June to focus on its intended purpose of scrutinising the Government’s draft Media Bill.It is incumbent upon all media organisations to demonstrate how seriously they take their responsibilities and your appearance before the Committee will enable ITV to do so.

As questions continue to be asked following Phillip Schofield resigning from ITV and admitting to an “unwise but not illegal” affair with a younger male colleague, we take a look at the key players at the broadcaster along with former This Morning presenters. Dame Carolyn McCall Dame Carolyn became ITV’s first female chief executive when she joined in 2018.

ITV has hired a leading employment lawyer to conduct an investigation into Phillip Schofield's departure from This Morning, and the scandal that followed his admittance to an "unwise but not illegal" affair with a much younger colleague. A letter from ITV chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall to the head of Ofcom and Lucy Frazer, the Culture Secretary, obtained by the PA news agency, sees Carolyn write that Jane Mulcahy KC will "carry out an external review of the facts." It comes after ITV revealed it had investigated rumours of the relationship three years ago but was lied to by Phillip and didn't find any evidence of a relationship "beyond hearsay and rumour." Here is the letter from Dame Carolyn McCall to Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer, DCMS Committee chairwoman, Dame Caroline Dinenage, and Ofcom chief executive, Dame Melanie Dawes, in full: "Dear Lucy, Dame Caroline, and Dame Melanie, "You will have seen the significant media coverage concerning Phillip Schofield.

ITV bosses could be facing a grilling by MPs during a meeting where ITV will give evidence on the Culture, Media and Sport committee.The meeting, which was arranged before Phillip Schofield quit This Morning and admitted to an affair, will be about updating broadcasting rules in the new Media Bill. However, after ITV’s ongoing drama with the former This Morning presenter, it is thought MP’s will likely focus on the broadcaster's recent revelations and the work environment which has been called “toxic” by previous employees.

This Morning will undergo an external review after Phillip Schofield sensationally confessed to having an affair with a younger male colleague.

ITV said it has instructed a barrister to carry out an external review of the facts following Phillip Schofield’s statement and departure from This Morning.

ITV has instructed a lawyer to carry out a review of the facts surrounding Phillip Schofield’s relationship with a younger colleague following his exit from This Morning, according to the PA news agency.

Former This Morning host Eamonn Holmes has alleged that there was a “total cover-up” on the ITV show This Morning over Phillip Schofield’s affair with a young male colleague.Phillip, 61, resigned from the broadcaster on Friday before being dropped by his talent agency YMU after he admitted to the "unwise, but not illegal" affair.After Phillip's resignation, a number of former members of the This Morning family have come out and criticised the broadcaster.The show’s former resident doctor, Dr Ranj Singh, has hit out at the daytime show’s “toxic” culture, saying he raised concerns about “bullying and discrimination” two years ago when he worked there and after doing so, felt like he was “managed out” for whistleblowing. Following Ranj's statement, an ITV spokesperson told The Mirror: "We are sorry to read Dr Ranj’s post today.

Former ITV presenter Eamonn Holmes has accused his former employer of a “total cover up” of the affair between Phillip Schofield and a much younger staffer in a scathing interview on GB News. Eamonn, 63, who now hosts the Breakfast Show at rival broadcaster GB News, told Dan Wootton that ITV bosses “had to know” about the relationship.