Mailwatch(ed) Forum

It seems to me that Schofield's dramatic fall (over the radio phone-ins , Sun front page, and everywhere else today), is down to two things, in which he has much in common with Boris Johnson:

a) Revealed mendacity : Schofield has been revealed as, and has admitted to, consistently lying for years about his relationship with a much younger runner on the Good Morning show.

b) Rank hypocrisy : Schofield was vocally and very publicly outraged in disowning his own brother when he (his brother) was recently convicted of grooming and sexually abusing a young boy over a period of three years, and sentenced to a 12 stretch. Though he has this morning been at great pains to insist that his sexual relationship with a younger man who was a runner on his TV morning show began (by Schofield's account), when the younger man was aged 20, what Schofield has done (and lied about) looks uncannily, very similar to the actions of Timothy Schofield.

And that's without mentioning the queue jumping when Brenda was lying in a box in Westminster Hall. Or the extremely worrying dynamic of an older man conducting a relationship with a much younger person in the context of the significant power imbalance that entailed.

The Today programme broadcast an interview Amol Rajan conducted with Schofield this morning in which Schofield professed to have been feeling suicidal. I do have some sympathy with him, of course, on that score, but Phillip Scofield /Boris Johnson equivalence definitely looks like a thing.

Fuck him. Not literally, because I'm 25 years too old for him. I can't see any point in this sorry tale where he was forced to do anything, except resign.

As for similarities with Johnson, perhaps. But I'd say it's typical of any business (politics, journalism, fashion, showbiz, sport) where the rewards at the top are beyond belief and there's no shortage of people wanting in.

Lots of tittle tattle about people I go out of my way to avoid.


The Daily Mash posted its take a few minutes ago.

Famous man who had affair with much younger female colleague suffers few consequences

https://newsthump.com/2023/06/02/famous ... nsequences

A man who had an affair with a much younger female colleague has suffered few consequences, according to reports this morning.

Simon Williams, a presenter on ITV’s popular Get Up F**kers morning show, admitted earlier this week that he slept with a much younger female member of the production staff on several occasions.

Whilst the news initially appeared on the front page of the Sun, alongside a picture of Williams looking a bit sad, the story was soon supplanted in the national consciousness with much more important things.

Whilst Williams hasn’t presented the show this week, he is expected to be back at work as normal on Monday.

“Yes, what I did was perhaps foolish, but not illegal,” he said. The majority of the press and the public agreed. Whilst the girl was younger, she was above the age of consent at the time of the affair.

“I’ll probably do a thing where I walk along holding hands with the wife and kids, then maybe a tearful bit to camera on Monday, and it’ll all be forgotten by the end of next week.”

Most people agreed that although it wasn’t very nice to his wife, she should probably expect that sort of thing being married to someone famous and, ultimately, people do much worse.
Naturally, if it had been an affair with a much younger man, then Williams should have been thrown in prison for the rest of his life with his balls cut off.

But it wasn’t, so that’s fine.

Fuck him, This Morning and ITV, fuck Eamonn Fucking Holmes, Dan Cunt Wootton. Fuck Nicky fucking Campbell and the BBC for having a phone in on Five Live this morning plus an interview with Schofield. Fuck ME for paying attention to this pathetic shit show - although, in mitigation, I've been off work this week and turned on the TV in my hotel room otherwise I probably wouldn't have noticed any of this nonsense.

Rosvanian wrote: ↑Fri Jun 02, 2023 2:27 pm Fuck him, This Morning and ITV, fuck Eamonn Fucking Holmes, Dan Cunt Wootton. Fuck Nicky fucking Campbell and the BBC for having a phone in on Five Live this morning plus an interview with Schofield. Fuck ME for paying attention to this pathetic shit show - although, in mitigation, I've been off work this week and turned on the TV in my hotel room otherwise I probably wouldn't have noticed any of this nonsense.

Best response.
None of these gruesome gossip merchants are worth minutes of our time.

Rosvanian wrote: ↑Fri Jun 02, 2023 2:27 pm Fuck him, This Morning and ITV, fuck Eamonn Fucking Holmes, Dan Cunt Wootton. Fuck Nicky fucking Campbell and the BBC for having a phone in on Five Live this morning plus an interview with Schofield. Fuck ME for paying attention to this pathetic shit show - although, in mitigation, I've been off work this week and turned on the TV in my hotel room otherwise I probably wouldn't have noticed any of this nonsense.

Yep.

Still, I'm glad that we now know nepotism exists in television.

Am I missing something here? Parliament are calling in an executive because a TV presenter had an affair? Even you accept the (entirely unproven) "grooming" argument, I very much doubt that the bloke started working at ITV at 15.

There's stuff about a supposed toxic culture at This Morning.

What's meant by that in this case? Do other select committees haul CEOs in their sector for it?

No.
This would seem to be a matter for Ofcom, not Parliament.

Malcolm Armsteen wrote: ↑Sat Jun 03, 2023 3:57 pm No.
This would seem to be a matter for Ofcom, not Parliament.

It's an excellent distraction when Ritchie doesn't want you to think about Boris's telephone - or something.

Bones McCoy wrote: ↑Sat Jun 03, 2023 8:18 pm

Malcolm Armsteen wrote: ↑Sat Jun 03, 2023 3:57 pm No.
This would seem to be a matter for Ofcom, not Parliament.

It's an excellent distraction when Ritchie doesn't want you to think about Boris's telephone - or something.

Exactly.

Is it even one for Ofom? I've never heard it getting involved with the working culture on TV shows generally?

I must be missing something, look at this.

https://committees.parliament.uk/commit ... committee/

The letter is in response to correspondence received yesterday from Dame Carolyn announcing that ITV has launched an external review to establish the facts around the reports of a relationship between presenter Phillip Schofield and an employee on the This Morning programme.

Even if Dame Carolyn McCall coughs that, "Yeah, heard about this ages ago", what's the deal? The Government didn't think Hancock should have resigned for having an affair when he was supposed to be minimising contact with people outside his family.

It has raised (possibly erroneously) questions over safeguarding and duty of care. I would assume that these would be within Ofcom's remit.

Malcolm Armsteen wrote: ↑Sat Jun 03, 2023 9:39 pm It has raised (possibly erroneously) questions over safeguarding and duty of care. I would assume that these would be within Ofcom's remit.

I'd be surprised. Media isn't exactly known for being great on this stuff. Who else has been hauled in for it?

A lot of newspapers are talking up the safe guarding issues but at the same time is is very likely that these same newspapers will be currently doorstepping the young man who Schofield had the affair with as well as offering money to anybody prepared to give them any gossip about Schofield or his younger lover.

Well, privacy's for paedos, innit?