To think the media need to be careful...

[apairofjeanstharfitjustright]

Whatever Philip Schofield has done, I think the media need to be careful, look what happened to Caroline Flack. Completely vilified in the press and the same is happening to Philip.

Regardless of what I think of him, I think the media need to back off and tread lightly here.

AIBU or do you think he deserves all of this?

I’m not sure they have the capacity. Single use names and name changing on here is proliferative and relies on user reporting for any dodgy content.

A stand alone post without user history isn’t unusual.

Surely though if you are present on a set where alleged wrongdoing or exploitation of this sort is happening; then it is your responsibility (collectively) to speak out. It is especially the responsibility of the managers to challenge it. I know it’s really difficult if you are lower down in the food chain and that speaking out (allegedly) implicates your boss too and puts your job at risk but Eamonn and Ruth did so and suffered the consequences.

We don’t know how evident this alleged behaviour was to everyone but there have been so many rumours about it that it must have been (allegedly) fairly widely known.

To be fair to HW, we also don’t know the power structure at ITV or the “weight” of the factors that made it difficult to speak out - EH talked about a close cabal at the top and how PS allegedly wielded power - but if you see someone being exploited, even if they don’t recognise it as exploitation themselves, it’s everyone’s duty to call it out I think. It’s not as if there haven’t been enough recent examples as to what we should all do eg Saville, Harris, Weinstein, Epstein (not saying PS is allegedly on that level - none of us know what has happened in detail atm - but the principle stays the same).

This is ridiculous.

The boy became a member of the youth company that Schofield is patron of when he was 10 years old. There is a photo of the two of them together taken at an event that took place when the boy was 12. Though they may have met during the two years prior just without it being photographed.

Schofield had an ongoing friendship and mentoring-type relationship with the boy throughout the entirety of his teenage years, followed him on Twitter when he was 15, was sending him tweets referencing drinking alcohol and things being rude while he was underage, and was hanging out with him and bringing him to TV events while still underage.

He gave him a job on This Morning first as a runner and then as Schofield's personal assistant when he was 18. He was 18 at the youngest when the relationship turned sexual, indebted to Schofield for his career, and had an ongoing friendship/mentor relationship for years. Then Schofield had him fired when the relationship ended.

This is completely different from meeting someone once as a kid, then bumping into them years later when you're both adults and sparks fly. A powerful much older man sleeping with his 18yr old assistant is creepy anyway, but they'd had an ongoing friendship/mentor relationship since the boy was 12 at the very oldest.

Completely agree 👍

I agree but I think people need to respect that Caroline had a history of mental illness and I think it was depression, I can’t quite recall. She was very ill and even her family said it wasn’t just the media it the fact she was being tried for anssualt and the impact on her career, that and also with her illness.

there is no indication that Philip is unwell. I understand the similarities and I also had the same thought, particularly on special media, as he is being accused of a crime also, grooming/sexual assault of a minor, but no one apart from the two of them, possibly some of M’s close friends or family, know the truth.

but yes I get the similarities, and do think it’s a bit much.

did PS have many other friends at the Youth Company?

Was just thinking the same thing😂

The boy became a member of the youth company that Schofield is patron of

hiding in plain sight

I did say there may be some questions to answer about not speaking up. But ITV have more questions around a culture that might have made that risky.

Nonetheless, the rush to berate holly willoughby and be more angry with her than with Phillip schofield for his abhorrent behaviour is more than a little misogynistic.

And definitely suits schofield’s purposes.

Hes a nasty piece of work and deserves everything he gets! Same with Caroline flack, she was an abuser he couldn't handle being outed in court! Be Kind is just a load of bollocks designed to stop people being held to account for deplorable behaviour!

I agree OP, I think it's time the media backed off now and leave him alone... what more do they want from him as he's resigned from literally everything with immediate effect and also apologised to everyone in his life... it's almost like he's resigned from life fully isn't it?

I'm not talking about anyone specifically here but whilst a lot of famous people put on a sweet and lovely front, most (not all obviously) are often as hard as nails and fairly ruthless. Its how they get successful in the first place. So I wouldn't feel too worried.

i dont agree
they were very careful with Jimmy Saville and the rest.

I disagree that people are berating HW more than PS; the people mentioning HW are doing so mainly in the context of “how much did she know, if anything?”. I agree with you that most condemnation should be directed at PS who has acted, at the very least, unprofessionally.

Personally, I think management should have stepped in when PS “came out” - it’s never a good sign when the personal lives of presenters become the content of the show - but I suppose they might possibly have then been accused of homophobia - but I thought it was very hard on PS’s wife.

In 12 hours we'll know what the Mail on Sunday has got on him.

If there are victims of a safeguarding scandal out there, they deserve justice.

If you meet someone as a child & later have a relationship with them (both adults) then you must have groomed them?

I'd like to know how many groomers are regular MN posters then

Erm, I'm going to hazard a guess at zero.

I doubt anyone on MN has known child whilst they were in their 40s, waited for them to become of legal age, then shagged them

Revolting to even suggest that there is.

I don’t know; I read somewhere before that young out males are statistically more at risk from grooming. I’ve got a relative who has just come out, young teen boy. I can see why in a way. Lots of older men are drawn to them. You have to be so careful about instilling power dynamics, healthy relationships etc. I’d be savage if I was this boys parents - he’s known him since a young teen. I’d want people to know the full scale of the power imbalance.

I agree. I don't know anyone who is blaming HW "more" than PS, but there is a lot of criticism aimed in her direction and honestly, it's hard to see that it's unwarranted.

When PS came out, she was simpering over him, and she very much hitched her wagon to his, riding his coat-tails with her gay best friend. She has absolutely raised her profile by publicly proclaiming PS as her bestie, the two have been inseparable.

I, like many others, find it impossible to believe that HW was completely innocent about what was going on. At best she's turned a blind eye, and at worst she's encouraged and supported him - until it no longer benefitted her to do so.

HW isn't a groomer. PS is. But being complicit in grooming is pretty abhorrent, even if it's not in the same league as the actual abuse.

If PS had a close male bestie that had publicly been cheering him on, I'd level the same accusations at them. There's nothing misogynistic about holding women to account for poor behaviour.

Oh no, he has to face the consequences of his actions.

Here we go again

im sorry but people need to take responsibility for their own actions-lying abusing violence all done themselves-but yeah its the media who killed them

I’m not entirely convinced it wasn’t consensual. Young adolescents can fall in love with older people of the same sex. Look up the pederasty, with younger and older male lover.
I think Phil was wrong to lie but he’s being cast as a child groomer which may not be true.

This 👆

I'm sure he was happy when he got positive coverage, and you can't decide it's not on as soon as it's negative. If he didn't want it, he should have avoided this wrongdoing, as most of us easily manage to do.

I'm not defending him. I've never been a particularly big fan but knowing a child isn't necessarily grooming a child. The fact that he started a relationship with said child when he was of a legal age does look sus but there's no proof a crime was committed. In light of his brothers sentencing it all looks very murky, sleazy and immoral but not necessarily illegal.

It was right for him to step down but I don't get all the vitriol. He has a family who are no doubt very distressed by all this too. The British press are savage and have learnt nothing from the likes of Caroline Flack. Yes, hold people to account for their bad actions. Sack them. Involve the police if a crime has been committed but this media witch hunt is awful imo.

He lost his job, he's still a squillionaire with a ton of extremely well-connected friends. He can happily live out the rest of his life on a yacht somewhere.

Big deal. People in TV lose jobs all the time. How many women have lost their entire TV career just because they hit 35? No outraged Mumsnet threads for them!

Hell, PS destroyed people's entire TV careers himself because he didn't like them or because they had a problem with him fucking teenagers. Now he's recieving exactly what he dished out to others, and we're supposed to be sad that a wealthy celeb has lost his TV gig? No one is entitled to being on TV.