Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think Phillip schofield scandal is homophobia?

913 replies

ivfregret · 01/06/2023 00:00

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?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
8
Blossomtoes · 01/06/2023 00:13

PopcorningPancakingWheeking · 01/06/2023 00:06

It's because he cheated on his wife. Understandably people are upset about that. He isn't a victim. He didn't have to marry.

No it’s not, it’s because of the power imbalance.

greyhairnomore · 01/06/2023 00:14

It's all the lying.

PopcorningPancakingWheeking · 01/06/2023 00:16

Blossomtoes · 01/06/2023 00:13

No it’s not, it’s because of the power imbalance.

It's that too. Oh and also covering up for his paedo brother.

WheelsUp · 01/06/2023 00:19

I think the media are hoping to see some ITV bosses heads roll too.

Entertainment is notorious for child grooming and it sounds like MM was failed by the adults around him.

Agree that there's more to come and the tabloids will be dropping more info over the next weeks.

donquixotedelamancha · 01/06/2023 00:20

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.

What a weird comparison. They have a 10 year gap and got together when he was 22.

A better comparison would be Prince Andrew. He didn't groom his victim from childhood but there is a comparable power imbalance.

nancy75 · 01/06/2023 00:20

I actually think he’s been let off for a long time because he’s gay.

When he first came out he was all over the place being ‘brave and strong’.
If he’d been married & having an affair with a (much younger) woman he would have been called out as a lying, cheating ratbag. Because he’d been unfaithful with men he was brave 🙄

Opine · 01/06/2023 00:20

There’s got to be more to it. I’m waiting for the crux of the tale because I don’t believe this is it.

Applecoresweet · 01/06/2023 00:22

You are minimizing abuse of a vulnerable boy because he is male?

Showdogworkingdog · 01/06/2023 00:23

I agree OP. It doesn’t lessen any of the issues around his grooming/predatory behaviour but the right wing vile papers never got over him coming out and are relishing putting the boot in now. The whole situation is ugly.

donquixotedelamancha · 01/06/2023 00:24

Opine · 01/06/2023 00:20

There’s got to be more to it. I’m waiting for the crux of the tale because I don’t believe this is it.

This is the other reason PS is getting such hostility- after all the lies people doubt he actually waited until the boy was over 16.

I doubt we will ever know the truth unless his victim decides to tell. To me it doesn't matter- even the best interpretation makes PS an absolute creep- which is why I'm bemused OP thinks it's no big deal.

AngeloMysterioso · 01/06/2023 00:25

It’s not homophobia, it’s creepophobia.

SmartHome · 01/06/2023 00:26

Seriously? How much is your firm getting paid for this? Give it up! It's done.

upinspaceman · 01/06/2023 00:28

When you say homophobia I think you mean paedophilia

JonahAndTheSnail · 01/06/2023 00:30

It's an abuse of power whether or not the sexes are reversed. Certainly not helped by Schofield going on record to say he felt 'furious' about his brother's relationship with a schoolboy when he was on trial just a few weeks earlier.

GrimDamnFanjo · 01/06/2023 00:30

How was he hired? Jobs like that are extremely difficult to land. Did he have any relevant experience?

And why was he moved from TM ?

It all sounds very dubious. I feel extremely sorry for this young man.

Groutyonehereagain · 01/06/2023 00:33

It would be just the same if the younger person was female. There’s nothing homophobic about this, it’s ridiculous to suggest that there is.

CrazyArmadilloLady · 01/06/2023 00:34

The reaction is what it has been because he groomed the young boy.

The reaction would be exactly the same if it were a man in his now 60s (albeit 50s at the time, which clearly is just as bad) grooming a 10YO girl until she literally hit the age of consent. And then had her fired ‘moved to another job’, while ITV helped ensure it was all covered up for him.

It’s appalling because there was no safeguarding consideration given to the young person at all.

If anything, PS has gotten away with this for as long as he has because people don’t want to be accused of homophobia.

SiIIy · 01/06/2023 00:37

Showdogworkingdog · 01/06/2023 00:23

I agree OP. It doesn’t lessen any of the issues around his grooming/predatory behaviour but the right wing vile papers never got over him coming out and are relishing putting the boot in now. The whole situation is ugly.

Nah.

The only reason he came out was because the story of him grooming a child was about to break. It was all a preemptive attempt for him to deflect and hopefully (from his POV) cover up the abuse, in addition to getting sympathy points.

Kinneddar · 01/06/2023 00:38

He met the boy when he was 12 and at a theatre school Schofield was involved in. He 'mentored him' seems to have been involved in his life from then on before getting him a job and having a sexual relationship with him.

Its the grooming of a teenage boy that's rightly caused outrage. He was in a position of power & abused that. Its nothing to do with homophobia

Porridgealert · 01/06/2023 00:43

ivfregret · 01/06/2023 00:08

There must be more to it because don't get me wrong it is not good at all and isn't ok - but equally the reaction seems overly extreme.

I get why it would be an issue, but the publicity around this is way bigger than I would expect

Absolutely totally bonkers. The runner doesn't want his name to be released or associated with this either. He's being put in an awful situation. And I've seen on here people speculating that he was passed around amongst the different presenters. Really horrible stuff.

I honestly think the country has lost its increasingly tiny mind.

CheekNerveGallAudacityandGumption · 01/06/2023 00:55

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

kittensinthekitchen · 01/06/2023 00:59

ivfregret · 01/06/2023 00:06

I think it would be less of a scandal yes

You think there's less scandal if a 50-odd year old man grooms a young teen girl??

Troubledwaters34 · 01/06/2023 01:01

There is much more to it that will come out in time.
as it stands the whole thing is morally wrong and a very solid example of grooming.
PS is a powerful man in the world that MM was in. He was just a boy when PS befriended him and gave him the opportunities to get in the field he wanted. After he declared his live at the NTA he was swiftly removed and rumours of payment.
the power balance from age, finances, career were all out of balance. At 15 and when PS helped him he would of been his hero but equally PS could treat him how he wanted even if he waited til he was of age because that’s whole young persons future was in PS hands.

Freezylap · 01/06/2023 01:07

I think the fact that it was a man rather than a young woman has made things better for PS not worse, if that’s possible. I don’t see any homophobia here.

PS groomed a teenager who he then put into a very vulnerable position by making sure he was his boss and dependent on him for employment.

leli · 01/06/2023 01:08

1/ he obviously knew he was gay and used his wife and daughters as a cover for decades. His poor wife.
2/ he only came out to fawning praise because his cover was about to be blown and he wanted more sexual freedom.
3/ he groomed a young boy until he could legally access his body then appears to have dumped the young man.
4/ he provided the young man with top lawyers - why??? The young man refused to continue lying to said lawyers so the game was up.
5/ his brother is now a convicted paedophile and PS is looking like an unconvicted paedophile.
6/ it would have been scandalous and disgraceful if PS had groomed a young girl and still vile for his wife but I think discovering your husband is gay is even more cruel and humiliating for a woman to endure.
7/ Jimmy Savile.

i actually agree with the earlier poster - can the OP perhaps bd working for PS’s PR outfit?…..Or ITV’s?

Swipe left for the next trending thread