Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think the media need to be careful...

199 replies

apairofjeanstharfitjustright · 27/05/2023 07:17

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?

OP posts:
Casilero · 27/05/2023 13:31

lljkk · 27/05/2023 07:59

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.

Seriously?

Have you just badly phrased this post, or do you actually condone adults having a sexual relationship with someone 40 years younger who they originally met as a child?

If it's the latter, then I seriously hope you have no safeguarding responsibilities.

tolerable · 27/05/2023 13:32

er..the very man himself has used n abused....the media.hell will mend him

sunshinesupermum · 27/05/2023 13:34

This is absolutely nothing like the Caroline Flack situation. Shame on you OP for suggesting it. Schofield deserves everything that's coming to him as do those who have covered up for him for years knowing of his relationship with this teenager.

Nat6999 · 27/05/2023 13:34

He's not the first & he won't be the last, remember Bill Wyman & Mandy Smith? It's just today's news, which will be tomorrow's chip papers. The media are never happy unless they are ripping into someone & destroying them

swayingpalmtree · 27/05/2023 13:40

BeatrixKidd · 27/05/2023 13:27

No speculation.

There are photos of them attending TV events together while he was underage, and tweets from PS to the boy referencing attending events together that are datestamped.

It's on the record that the young man was let go from his job on This Morning. That's not in dispute.

It's been widely reported that the reason all this started was because the boy was angry at being fired and threatened to out Schofield.

Remember, this teenager wasn't just some random behind the scenes runner. He was regularly appearing on camera, doing interviews, sitting on the sofa being chatty and friendly with Phil and Holly, he even did a TV segment shirtless once. A big part of what made the rumours leap from being something that was common knowledge within the TV industry, to being speculated about by viewers, was how suddenly and aggressively this random teenage runner was being showcased on air.

Ruth put in an official complaint about Schofield's behaviour towards the boy. Katie Hopkins (yes I know she's awful) did a video outright saying that Schofield was having an inappropriate relationship with this teenage runner, that she'd been out to dinner with them and witnessed inappropriate stuff, and that was why he was being given all these onscreen opportunities. Joan Collins appeared on Piers Morgan's show and referenced "inappropriate" allegations.

Show quote history

This. Its not speculation, its fact. Just because people dont want to believe it, doesnt make it less true.

UndercoverCop · 27/05/2023 13:40

He's a predatory man in a position of power, it's not just the one incident wait until the injunction ends in June and she was a domestic violence perpetrator let's not forget that.
What we need is to stop hero worshipping people because they are famous in the first place.
What do I want now? The full information regarding his behaviour and due legal process to be followed where necessary.

Beezknees · 27/05/2023 13:45

AlwaysGinPlease · 27/05/2023 13:09

For goodness sake, this is absolutely nothing like Caroline Flack. She did nothing wrong and was bullied and victimized by the press. He's a vile manipulative, lying groomer, by his own admission. Think instead how his victim feels and the victim of his pedophile brother, the one PS knew about and did nothing at all about it. No doubt they've felt like ending their own lives at some point.

Whatever he does I could not care less. I'm just glad he has finally been seen for what he is and that his career is over.

Show quote history

She hit her partner with a lamp, she admitted that herself. She didn't do "nothing wrong" that's domestic violence.

3dogsandarabbit · 27/05/2023 13:46

UndercoverCop - Do you have a link to the injunction that ends in June because I have read that it doesn't exist.

SophiaElizabethGrace · 27/05/2023 13:57

This is utter bullshit. Why bring up CF AGAIN! Jesus Christ.

PS had a choice in respect to how he conducted himself at work. He made bad choices and is a liar. He now has to face the consequences.

BlackWhiteColour · 27/05/2023 14:15

HappiestSleeping · 27/05/2023 12:16

This 👆

Show quote history

You all read through to page four at least though, after reading the first post 😂 You could have stopped 😏

DrMarciaFieldstone · 27/05/2023 14:57

For goodness sake, this is absolutely nothing like Caroline Flack. She did nothing wrong and was bullied and victimized

Why on earth does this lie still persist?

GoOnHoliday · 27/05/2023 15:02

I doubt anyone other than his family care about him, we all have our own lives and have empathy for his victim. He has more than his brother, they all disowned him, I don't remember them worrying about the Flack effect when Philip disowned Timothy.

HappiestSleeping · 27/05/2023 15:39

BlackWhiteColour · 27/05/2023 14:15

You all read through to page four at least though, after reading the first post 😂 You could have stopped 😏

Show quote history

Not quite, I saw the 3rd post down, responded to that and moved on.

Casilero · 27/05/2023 16:00

BlackWhiteColour · 27/05/2023 14:15

You all read through to page four at least though, after reading the first post 😂 You could have stopped 😏

Show quote history

😂😂😂😂

ChristmasFluff · 27/05/2023 16:53

In both of these cases, the problem was the false persona presented to the media, not the media finally revealing the facts.

conniefused · 27/05/2023 17:13

BeatrixKidd · 27/05/2023 12:29

It's extremely disturbing how many people - presumably mothers - appear to be completely fine with middle aged men befriending children then fucking them the minute they reach the age of consent.

There's a difference between "being ok" with it and recognising it's not actually a crime. Immoral, sleazy, predatory perhaps but not illegal. That said, nobody is saying it's ok and I haven't seen one single person say that what PS has done is right or excusable. However I'm sick of seeing the British gutter press tear people apart to the point of suicide in some cases.

PS has behaved appallingly. Really disgustingly. He's left his job and will never work again in that capacity. His reputation is destroyed. What more do people want? Are you enjoying seeing this media field day?

Thisisabsolutelyfine · 27/05/2023 17:16

Chchchchchangesss · 27/05/2023 07:32

By his own admission he groomed a child and later started a sexual relationship with him, so i think he deserves everything he gets.

This!!!

realityhack · 27/05/2023 17:26

Are you enjoying seeing this media field day?

Literally no one in this thread has said “woo hoo! I’m really enjoying this!!” What they have said is that he should have thought about the potential consequences before acting like a predator (and he IS a predator to target a teenager and get them fired once he’d used him for his own sexual gain) and that they don’t feel the need to be falling over themselves worrying about PS and his mental health. Lots of people have however expressed concerns over PS wife and kids and the real victim here, who is the intern.

I also note there wasn’t much concern from PS towards the mental health of the young man he groomed however. Why do you think that was? Maybe he was “enjoying it” eh?!

berksandbeyond · 27/05/2023 17:34

Nah, he’s a creep. He’s reaping (finally) what he sows

PoseyFlump · 27/05/2023 18:14

For his management of 35 years to drop him suggests to me there is more to come

There's always more. But will we find out? If your neighbour had a brother who had just been banged up for being a nonce and then you find out your neighbour had an inappropriate relationship with a kid (even if he 'waited' until he was of age) I think we all know what we'd think him to be.

BeatrixKidd · 27/05/2023 19:14

conniefused · 27/05/2023 17:13

There's a difference between "being ok" with it and recognising it's not actually a crime. Immoral, sleazy, predatory perhaps but not illegal. That said, nobody is saying it's ok and I haven't seen one single person say that what PS has done is right or excusable. However I'm sick of seeing the British gutter press tear people apart to the point of suicide in some cases.

PS has behaved appallingly. Really disgustingly. He's left his job and will never work again in that capacity. His reputation is destroyed. What more do people want? Are you enjoying seeing this media field day?

Show quote history

He's crazy rich, still has the support of his family and even his wife, and there are tons of people online defending him and ranting about witch hunts and consensual relationships between adults.

*Are you enjoying seeing this media field day?"

I'm viewing this as a victim of child sexual abuse, sex trafficking, and grooming, who now works in the entertainment industry and has to deal with navigating an industry where sexual abuse is routinely covered up, and where refusing to tolerate that has actively damaged my own career and income. People who don't even work in TV need to shut the fuck up calling those of us personally affected "tricoteuses."

It's very disturbing to me how much people are pulling the "you can't criticise him because he's gay and therefore that's homophobic" and the "#BeKind or you might drive someone to suicide" cards. "Do what I say or I might kill myself" is a common tactic used by abusers and holds no water with me.

SargentSagittarius · 27/05/2023 19:26

HappiestSleeping · 27/05/2023 15:39

Not quite, I saw the 3rd post down, responded to that and moved on.

Show quote history

You’re still here!

Refreshing the thread and posting!?!

Sillybanana · 27/05/2023 19:34

Not only did Phillip admit to a really gross relationship with someone he’d known since a child, he also used his power at itv to shut all the rumours down and control the other presenters. He thought he was untouchable. I find his arrogance really sickening

SargentSagittarius · 27/05/2023 19:34

conniefused · 27/05/2023 17:13

There's a difference between "being ok" with it and recognising it's not actually a crime. Immoral, sleazy, predatory perhaps but not illegal. That said, nobody is saying it's ok and I haven't seen one single person say that what PS has done is right or excusable. However I'm sick of seeing the British gutter press tear people apart to the point of suicide in some cases.

PS has behaved appallingly. Really disgustingly. He's left his job and will never work again in that capacity. His reputation is destroyed. What more do people want? Are you enjoying seeing this media field day?

Show quote history

You’re utterly naively if you think people aren’t going to talk about something like this, and have an opinion / judgment about someone who behaves in the premeditated, insidious way that PH has. Utterly naive.

You know this could all so easily have been avoided, if PH just hadn’t done what he did?

PH has brought this on himself. And everyone else around him is now collateral damage. If only he’d used his head at just one point along this entire sorry affair.

Sillybanana · 27/05/2023 19:34

So no, why should people be kind?