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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Holly willoboughly

828 replies

midnightblue12 · 27/05/2023 21:03

Ok I know I've spelt her surname wrong... but here we are. We all know who I'm talking about!

I just don't understand why social media has turned on her, almost blaiming her for allowing Phillip S antics to go on?

Why is she responsible for his actions????

And for those saying "she must've known"... maybe she didn't! Maybe she kept out of it or maybe she didn't know the full one and puts.
Why so she being Blaine's. Am I missing something??!

OP posts:
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20
VitoCorleoneOfMNMafia · 27/05/2023 23:16

It's because the first rule of misogyny is that women are responsible for what men do. HW is being subjected to misogyny here.

user4567890754 · 27/05/2023 23:17

I very much doubt he freely chose to come out as gay.

And I very much doubt he freely chose to reveal this either. He’s trying to get ahead of something. Holly obviously knew this was coming as she has severed ties.

He met this boy in theatre land when he was 11.

He met his friend Simon Schofield when he performed in Joseph aged 12.

Avocados22 · 27/05/2023 23:18

Hey
I’m going to Majorca soon and wondered if anyone has bought tretinoin otc there please 🤞🏻

GoOnHoliday · 27/05/2023 23:19

VitoCorleoneOfMNMafia · 27/05/2023 23:16

It's because the first rule of misogyny is that women are responsible for what men do. HW is being subjected to misogyny here.

Adults have a responsibility to safeguard children. She failed as did other women and men, it's fuck all to do with sexism, it's failing in doing the decent moral thing.

MayThe4th · 27/05/2023 23:19

This witch hunt is getting way out of hand. “I read it on twitter and mn” is hardly proof of anything, and we all know that twitter is rife with gossip about most celebrities, so she had every reason not to believe him if he said that nothing happened.

It’s very easy to have an opinion on someone’s actions when you’re detached from them, but when you’re closer to them you see them for the person you think they are, rather than the person they’re being portrayed as being by others.

It’s entirely plausible that HW asked him about it and he told her that nothing happened. Just because she’d heard the rumours doesn’t make her complicit in covering them up.

Or should we all act on hear-say now?

Remembersweetvalleyhighbooks · 27/05/2023 23:20

Of course she knew 😂

Runnerduck34 · 27/05/2023 23:21

I dont think Holly is responsible for Phils actions but Im really rolling my eyes at " he lied to me" This is a man who lied to his wife, was unfaifhful throughout his mariage lived a lie for many years. When all this came out she called him " brave" , fawned over him and was seemingly unperturbed by him cheating and lying to his wife and children.
Now shes discovered,shock horror,that he lied to her and is " hurt" well imagine how his wife and kids felt Holly!!
Although tbh ime news of office affairs usually spreads like wildfire throughout the workplace so Id be surprised if she genuinely didnt have a clue.

MayThe4th · 27/05/2023 23:22

GoOnHoliday · 27/05/2023 23:19

Adults have a responsibility to safeguard children. She failed as did other women and men, it's fuck all to do with sexism, it's failing in doing the decent moral thing.

So she heard a rumour, he denied it, and she’s complicit in sexual grooming? Get a grip.

The only person responsible for his actions is him.

If he’d told her that he had groomed a boy and they’d then started an affair then she would be complicit, but from what she says he lied to her. And there’s no reason to believe he didn’t, other than the fact that people have an irrational hatred of HW, a woman they know absolutely nothing about.

thebutcherswife · 27/05/2023 23:22

This is a hill I would die on. 100% I would not stand by someone I know behaving in such a way. No amount of money or lifestyle could convince me to turn the other cheek. It’s not about blaming the woman, it’s about the people who protect the predators so they can keep themselves in the lifestyles they’re accustomed to. And this is directed to men as well as women.
I understand that in speaking out you risk being ostracised but I’d rather that than innocent people and vulnerable people being taken advantage of.

MayThe4th · 27/05/2023 23:26

Runnerduck34 · 27/05/2023 23:21

I dont think Holly is responsible for Phils actions but Im really rolling my eyes at " he lied to me" This is a man who lied to his wife, was unfaifhful throughout his mariage lived a lie for many years. When all this came out she called him " brave" , fawned over him and was seemingly unperturbed by him cheating and lying to his wife and children.
Now shes discovered,shock horror,that he lied to her and is " hurt" well imagine how his wife and kids felt Holly!!
Although tbh ime news of office affairs usually spreads like wildfire throughout the workplace so Id be surprised if she genuinely didnt have a clue.

But even if she knew about the affair, she wasn’t culpable in covering up his alleged grooming of a child.

The affair began when the man was an adult. Whatever went before that, at the time the affair happened, he was of legal age. So even if she’d known, it had nothing to do with her. Even if morally it looks dodgy because of the power imbalance, it wasn’t illegal.

So yes, it’s entirely possible that he could have lied to her when she asked him whether he’d groomed this boy.

And he came out live on National television. She had no choice but to be supportive. Even if she already knew he was gay. It wasn’t her news to break.

gettingoldisshit · 27/05/2023 23:26

Grapewrath · 27/05/2023 21:20

Of course she knew!!
Tbh it’s irrelevant because if I even suspected my best friend was having an affair with a child we would not be friends.
Holly W only gives a shit about herself and her own career

Exactly this

Talia99 · 27/05/2023 23:28

Mirabai · 27/05/2023 23:10

I just think people here should be honest. She’s pretty, very wealthy, she gets up your nose, and that’s why you want to smear her with PS’s sins. It’s schadenfreude pretending to be ethics and it’s really hypocritical.

I highly doubt she knew for sure, because no-one knows what goes on behind closed doors in the relationships of even the closest of friends.

And if she did suspect he was lying to her what could she actually do about it?

Why don’t we ask Ruth and Eamon that question? They were in an almost identical position and somehow managed to come up with an answer that wasn’t ‘gushing public support at every opportunity’.

Of course, it also got them sacked and probably cost them millions (bearing in mind how much they were paid plus other ITV opportunities they lost). I guess Holly had to weigh personal advantage against doing the right thing and came down firmly on the side of ‘I’m alright, Jack’.

Everyone knew he was having a sexual relationship with a boy he’d known since his early teens who he’d got a job. There is no way Holly (or any public person) doesn’t have media monitoring in place for anything that could affect her brand. If I knew (random middle aged woman with no media connections), she knew.

And no, I’m not jealous. I rather admired her ability to come across as ‘nice, smiley Holly’ while getting to the top in media which takes total steely ruthlessness. There are a lot of pretty blonde girls who want to be famous. Most don’t come close to the level Holly has reached.

PurpleChrayne · 27/05/2023 23:30

Couldn't you have googled her name to get the spelling right?

CantFindTheBeat · 27/05/2023 23:30

@MayThe4th

"The affair began when the man was adult"

Let's say 'the man' was 18. And PS was 45 plus.

Do you really think that's morally defensible?

porridgeisbae · 27/05/2023 23:31

As I understand it, she knew about him having a relationship with a young man but he concealed from her his own brother being a paedo. That's why they fell out.

MayThe4th · 27/05/2023 23:32

Talia99 · 27/05/2023 23:28

Why don’t we ask Ruth and Eamon that question? They were in an almost identical position and somehow managed to come up with an answer that wasn’t ‘gushing public support at every opportunity’.

Of course, it also got them sacked and probably cost them millions (bearing in mind how much they were paid plus other ITV opportunities they lost). I guess Holly had to weigh personal advantage against doing the right thing and came down firmly on the side of ‘I’m alright, Jack’.

Everyone knew he was having a sexual relationship with a boy he’d known since his early teens who he’d got a job. There is no way Holly (or any public person) doesn’t have media monitoring in place for anything that could affect her brand. If I knew (random middle aged woman with no media connections), she knew.

And no, I’m not jealous. I rather admired her ability to come across as ‘nice, smiley Holly’ while getting to the top in media which takes total steely ruthlessness. There are a lot of pretty blonde girls who want to be famous. Most don’t come close to the level Holly has reached.

Would this be the same Eamon who grilled a rape survivor on why she hadn’t got a taxi home the night she was raped?

Who has descended to the depths of GB news and is presumably now attempting to seek a bit of fame by crowing on tabloid tv?

Let’s not pretend that Eamon is a paragon of virtue. He’s not.

2Rebecca · 27/05/2023 23:33

I thought him having had an affair with a teenage runner was common knowledge because it was all over social media as the reason he suddenly declared he was gay( rather than bisexual) and was surprised he was being praised for having an affair with a youth. It seems unlikely it wasn't general BBC gossip and I presume men having flings with teenagers isn't something that concerns the BBC unless there's a media fuss

Bigbus · 27/05/2023 23:34

Everybody there knew. Of course she knew. What a shitshow

2Rebecca · 27/05/2023 23:34

ITV not BBC ( I don't watch morning TV)

SamW98 · 27/05/2023 23:34

porridgeisbae · 27/05/2023 23:31

As I understand it, she knew about him having a relationship with a young man but he concealed from her his own brother being a paedo. That's why they fell out.

I definitely think his brothers trial and imprisonment seems to be the catalyst for a shift in those who had previously supported PS.
There is more to come - the DM been itching to spill the tea on this for years

WeAreTheHeroes · 27/05/2023 23:35

coeurnoir · 27/05/2023 22:51

A friend of mine knew about him and his tastes 30-odd years ago as they both worked at the BBC.

A friend of mine too, though I didn't believe it. Not sure why I didn't.

MayThe4th · 27/05/2023 23:36

CantFindTheBeat · 27/05/2023 23:30

@MayThe4th

"The affair began when the man was adult"

Let's say 'the man' was 18. And PS was 45 plus.

Do you really think that's morally defensible?

It doesn’t matter whether it’s morally defensible or not. IMO any age gap relationship is dodgy, even those where the adults are older. But it wasn’t illegal. Holly was under no obligation to take the moral high ground just because she didn’t agree with the relationship.

His wife would have known, there’s no way she didn’t know he was gay, and as such she would have known he was sleeping with men, possibly even with the boy.

The only person responsible for his actions is him. It’s ridiculous to suggest that someone should risk their career for the sake of what they at best could have considered to be morally dubious.

Talia99 · 27/05/2023 23:37

MayThe4th · 27/05/2023 23:32

Would this be the same Eamon who grilled a rape survivor on why she hadn’t got a taxi home the night she was raped?

Who has descended to the depths of GB news and is presumably now attempting to seek a bit of fame by crowing on tabloid tv?

Let’s not pretend that Eamon is a paragon of virtue. He’s not.

Oh absolutely. He can be deeply problematic. Which means if he can’t hold his nose and trouser the cash you know it’s bad. At the point where you lose the moral high ground to him (looking at you, Holly), you are basically screwed.

SamW98 · 27/05/2023 23:39

WeAreTheHeroes · 27/05/2023 23:35

A friend of mine too, though I didn't believe it. Not sure why I didn't.

My cousin works in tv. He’s gay and told us about 20 years ago it’s widely known that PS is gay and has a taste for pretty young men.

I remember his mum (my aunt) saying ‘but he’s married and him laughing and telling her that means nothing in showbiz

mysonsmother82 · 27/05/2023 23:39

mastertomsmum · 27/05/2023 21:32

The whole thing is a distraction from real news. As for Holly- definitely no Fern or Judy. As for Philip - definitely no Richard or even Dermot.

Judy was also a piece of shit she got booted off loose women for saying some rape isn't violent and that should be taken into consideration (not word for word) but it was something gross like that.