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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:
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bobotothegogo · 01/06/2023 07:28

It's because initially he tried to spin it all as, I'm so stunning and brave, when really he's a slimy cheat!

Lovetheplace · 01/06/2023 07:30

Look at the hate the radfords get and Noel isn’t gay! The issue with PS isn’t homophobia it’s the fact he has no morals and groomed a child

GeorginaBell · 01/06/2023 07:30

rookiemere · 01/06/2023 07:18

I think there is more to the story than is being told, or more known about PS than can be shared, hence why media is making such a big deal out of something relatively minor.

Either that or everyone hates PS and wanted his comeuppance.

Or maybe both.

Absolutely. We’ve all seen this before and the media have said more is to come. Could be about this young man or others or his conduct at ITV. The fact that ITV made many leavers sign NDA’s says it all really.

IAmAnIdiot123 · 01/06/2023 07:31

I think it's more to do with PS treating people like scum for years and years. He forgot to treat people well on the way up so you still have friends on the way back down.

IOnlycreatedaccountforthispost · 01/06/2023 07:31

I don’t think it is homophobic.

  1. he is a high profile celebrity
  2. he was married so cheated on his wife
  3. maybe a cover up by ITV
  4. it was an open secret - cover up by work colleagues
  5. met AP when he was a child
  6. power difference between him and AP

Oliver Bretherton was a solicitor who was recently hauled up in front of the SRA for having an affair (he was married) with an 18 year old (female) employee at his work. There was some media coverage but he was not famous. He has (or will) lost his job and will be struck of as a solicitor.

Justforkitchencorner · 01/06/2023 07:32

Nope!

Newnamenewname109870 · 01/06/2023 07:34

Quitelikeit · 01/06/2023 00:06

Imagine you were 50 and met a 12 year old boy then hired him and did god knows what next

I believe there’s more to come

It’s this and I think it would be the exact same if it was a girl!

There is implied grooming and that’s the issue.

Bananarepublic · 01/06/2023 07:38

MrsTerryPratchett · 01/06/2023 01:39

The irony is that all those girls this shit happened to didn't matter because of sexism.

All young people matter, regardless of the sex and sexuality of the predatory mostly male people creeping on them.

Exactly.

It's not homophobia because PS is gay and (allegedly) predatory. It's that girls and young women are fair game and if they get groomed it's somehow to be expected and even their fault. That's the reason for the apparent double standard.

knittingaddict · 01/06/2023 07:38

Its the grooming and calculation that people can't stand. The vast majority of the population don't care about whether people are gay or not. I would feel the same way if it was a girl who was manipulated like that. It's vile.

I've heard first hand accounts of mae and female, straight and gay celebrities being nasty bullies. I feel exactly the same way about all of them. Awful behaviour is awful behaviour.

Next?

scrantonelectriccity · 01/06/2023 07:40

No, it's not homophobia.

If he was straight and met a girl when she was 10, got her a job in TV and she was given lots of special treatment then he started a relationship as soon as was of "legal age" then paid her off to shut her up
afterwards it would be just as disgusting.

knittingaddict · 01/06/2023 07:40

And please can we stop calling it an affair? Turns my stomach every time.

knittingaddict · 01/06/2023 07:43

Just noticed who the op is. They would be much better off concentrating on their own life than trying to excuse this awful man in any way.

Rainbowshit · 01/06/2023 07:45

Oh FFS. He groomed a CHILD!

I don't believe for a second that they waited until he was 18.

Sigmama · 01/06/2023 07:46

If its all so cool and above board why did the schofe spend years and money covering his tracks

GeorginaBell · 01/06/2023 07:47

The other thing I’m now thinking given it’s PS and his brother is - who groomed or abused them potentially. Maybe no one ever did but it is a possibility. Obviously not excusing his behaviour he needs dealing with and investigating properly and not by ITV!

Qilin · 01/06/2023 07:47

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.

Iirr she didn't meet him before he was a teenager, then 'mentored' and groomed him for years as he grew up and started a relationship with him once he was 'legal.'

Didn't they meet briefly on some talent tv show (I forget which) and then go their separate ways for years before meeting again when they became a couple?

cushioncovers · 01/06/2023 07:50

I think it was the balance of power and the fact that the boy was only just an adult in age but not in life experience. Also the lies and cover up regarding it all that is the issue, not the fact that someone is gay.

90schickk · 01/06/2023 07:50

I’ve been thinking the same as you, OP.

I think there must be more to come out the woodwork…

ivfregret · 01/06/2023 07:51

Once again (because MUMSNET never seem to read posts properly!)

I never said what Philip done was ok - but I said the deal being made over it is way way bigger than I wouldn't expect that's all!

OP posts:
HRTQueen · 01/06/2023 07:53

He groomed this man

I agree that there would have been less drama in the press if the young man was a women and he met her as a girl but it still would have been unacceptable if anything the woman would have been considered a temptress by many

willWillSmithsmith · 01/06/2023 07:55

If it had been my son, innocently getting a job in TV as a teenager and then being seduced the minute he was ‘legal’ I’d be furious and very very angry (as I would if I had a daughter). Just knowing PS was in the wings waiting for him to turn legal sickens me. I don’t watch This Morning but I did see the news clips of him ‘coming out’ and I swear he said now that he was out he could start exploring this side of him as it was all ‘new’ to him having suppressed his real sexuality for so long. Hmmm

Tots678 · 01/06/2023 07:57

Well I think he kept his homosexuality quiet - so was acting the part of happily married heterosexual man. So keeping stuff quiet that would spoil the image isn't going to win fans.
However, years ago when he must have known his feelings it possibly wouldn't have been accepted to have a gay man as a leading presenter. I don't know - so it's hard to say but today people are much more accepting in fact it is almost the norm!

jeffhasgoodhair · 01/06/2023 08:03

Nope.

It's the grooming and the age difference.

I feel the same about older women with much younger men or older men with younger girls.

ClairDeLaLune · 01/06/2023 08:12

YABU. It’s not homophobia at all. The reaction would’ve been the same if MM had been a girl, and possibly worse. It’s the grooming aspect, the power imbalance, the cheating on his wife, the lying and deceit, and the frankly massive age difference. Nothing to do with their sexes at all.

Summerfun54321 · 01/06/2023 08:13

The context of his brother being charged is also relevant. It sets a really dark scene. These are minors being groomed and men in position of power. It's nothing to do with being gay.

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