To think Phillip schofield scandal is homophobia?

[ivfregret]

Have I missed something in that the guy Philip had the affair with was not a minor?

He was a minor when they met, as was Cheryl Cole and Liam Payne for example and no one has anything bad to say about that relationship.

I'm not sticking up for Philip and really dislike him, and also think even if the runner was above the age of consent is most definitely questionable behaviour but I can't help think of it was a heterosexual affair it would not be treated in the same way?

It's definitely not homophobia. Quite the opposite - media had the opportunity to break this story years ago and the reason they didn't is that they didn't want to be seen to be shaming someone for their sexuality. The overwhelming desire not to be homophobic allowed some very unsavory actions to be covered up.

The problems are quite clearly: grooming during the boy's teenage years, exploitation of a huge power imbalance (a teen "nobody" vs a very famous 50-60yo), the management of ITV turning a blind eye to and facilitating this predatory relationship. It seems none of it is illegal - that doesn't make it ok. I have 2 teens b/g. If either of them began shagging someone of any gender/sex who was in their 50s/60s, I would be disgusted.

Mentoring a young boy from the age of 15 , getting him a job on his show, dumping him when he declares his love, getting him kicked off the show and basically ruining the boys life, gagging the press... nobody knows when the sexual relationship started, but PS does not come off well here.

When he came out as gay, it was all over the internet about the young man. His name was everywhere along with photos, but none of it was in the papers until now. It was all hushed up by PS/ITV.

He was in a position of power and influence and he abused that position.

His "coming out" on live tv was cringeworthy and so fake, his hug with Holly where his face is in front of hers. and it was all done to cover up the true story about the young man.

This is not about homophobia. PS actually used coming out as gay as a way to deflect away from this story coming out.

I personally found Cheryl and Liam icky due to the age gap but there are some very important differences between their relationship and PS with the runner. Whilst Cheryl met Liam when he was 14, she did not take on any mentor type role and his position on the X factor was not contingent on her. He was eliminated and returned to xfactor several years later when Cheryl was no longer a judge. Their romantic relationship did not begin until he was 22, a successful "musician" in his own right with his own wealth. There was no power imbalance.

In comparison, the runner got the job through PS and was given certain privileges by PS that other people in his junior role would not have been given (attending awards ceremonies and filming a showreel for example). PS was very much in a position of power at TM and the runners job was very much contingent on PS as demonstrated when the relationship came to an end and the runner was "promoted" over to Loose Women.

PS actually met him first when the boy was 10-12 at a theatre school (there are pix of that meeting) and reconnected at 15 when the boy followed on him on Twitter. Over the course of the next two years they remained in contact with PS saying he could get the boy his TV break, which he did at 17/18 with work experience at This Morning. That mean the boy, already in his thrall, owed him. PS then abused his power by entering into a relationship with him. That's how he groomed him.

You have to take into account the fact that many people bought into the ‘charm’ and nice boy/ man next door appeal that has comprised PS career (nothing to do with me, I’ve never seen his programmes and I didn’t know who he was until Waitrose started to plaster him all over their wine list for no apparent reason). So I think there is an element of personal disappointment and disillusion which adds to the condemnation. His ‘fans’ feel let down by him, and maybe by the much too late repudiation by his costar who was like an onscreen ‘wife’ .Mr and Mrs Clean are now Mr and Mrs Tawdry.

The rest of the soi disant celebs ( KK!) who are piling on are just desperate for a bit of exposure, and maybe don’t understand that their behaviour is probably only highlighting their own lack of dignity and judgement.

Yikes!! So do you think Jason Donovan is too

The young man was NOT of age when Schofield first started a “mentoring” relationship. It’s worth listening to The Newsagents podcast on this. By journalists who know this sort of stuff.

But with the context of his involvement with this young lad, at best it’s showing an interest in young boys. The boys he was sending Snapchat messages to in my sons school were year 9 :aged 14/15.
if you don’t find that unsavoury I think you will find an excuse for anything and we will just have to disagree.

I get what you mean OP, but I think what has blown it up has been all the lying and denials before now. If it was just ‘weird but ok’ why would PS be so secretive about it?
That has made it all seem much, much more seedy.

You are correct in that the definition of a paedophile is someone with an interest in children under 13

but what about 13/14 & 15 year olds or just an interest in young teens

I don’t know if the law needs revisiting

I am so sorry about what happened to you. I hope you are well and that the perpetrator suffers and was punished with the full might of the law.

hugs to you

And this is why I think it might actually have been worse for PS in some ways if this young person was a girl.

Most people give him a pass on the adultery because they assume (rightly or wrongly) that his wife was well aware that he was gay and they had some kind of arrangement. If he'd been having an affair with a much younger woman then he'd obviously have been cheating on her.

I definitely thought it was really weird about Cheryl and liam too but he was definitely an adult when things happened and hadn't much interaction in between or even at the time they met. With Philip there is suggestion of grooming, he met him as a young minor, because a mentor and got him a job, kept him close and they got involved while he was married when the boy was still a questionable age. At the end of the day he was a married man carrying on with a young lad, if it was a young girl the reaction would be the same. Also he didn't go to the police about his brother sexually interacting with a young boy which makes him complicit. None of this is homophobic, it's about him being a sleazeball and being protected and allowed to be in a position which facilitated it

It's the Casting Couch, isn't it? Thoroughly wrong, but rife in the entertainment industry.

"Grooming is when a person builds a relationship with a child, young person or an adult who's at risk so they can abuse them and manipulate them into doing things.

The abuse is usually sexual or financial, but it can also include other illegal acts."

Grooming | Metropolitan Police

The problem is that PS has paid him off with a big, chunky wad of cash. He isn't going to share his side of the story unless he carefully leaks it via a third party.

All of the above.

One minute he's disgusted with what his brother told him (when he thought the boy was of age) and the next he's saying 'but it wasn't illegal' about himself.

Gender is not the issue here. Taking advantage of a younger person while pretending you're squeaky clean is why people don't like him.

I wonder if there is a genetic predisposition to it? I feel sorry for his mum.

Wyman has been fortunate that when this happened, attitudes were different (although it still made headlines at the time). I can't remember names but I think there

I think if Wyman were to do this now he would be rightly castigated for it.

He is a dirty little pervert

Hope that helps

Wyman has never been prosecuted. Disgraceful at the time and disgraceful now. When something is too much for the decadent Rolling Stones to tolerate -P45 Bill, bye- then it's bad.

Big ole dyke here (for those worried about homophobia). The man is a groomer, pure and simple. He met the lad when he was ten. TEN! (shouting that for the people who are hard of thinking.) More will come out about his shenanigans with underage boys, I guarantee it. So, until then, can folk please stop making apologies and excuses for an abuser?

How is it homophobia when eg Rylan hasn’t stuck up for him?

Imagine you’re the parents of the runner, who you know has known of Philip gif years, met him and encouraged him in his career and employed him? And then he gets dropped like a hot potato?

I don’t know much about Philip personally but a journalist friend of mind has worked with and met both him and Holly for work and says they’re absolutely vile.

OP:

It’s strong dislike of an arrogant and entitled bully who is receiving his comeuppance. At long last. Horrible person.

So no, it’s NOT homophobia. He hid that aspect for long enough, the coward.

His sexuality, that is.