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?

Okay…I am going to get a lot of flak for this, but why do people say he “groomed” the boy? It is a very loaded word which in my mind we use conventionally to discuss the way that paedophiles lure children (and those around them) into their control so that they can abuse the child.

Schofield is a very famous man. He can have a relationship with almost anyone he chosen - young or old. I would guess that before his downfall most people he met were dazzled by his fame - no need to “groom” them.

People using the idea of grooming in the Schofield case are giving out a dog whistle to say that he likes underage boys but his relationship with McGreevy - strictly speaking - doesn’t demonstrate that, although it doesn’t make their relationship any less inappropriate, which it would be in any professional setting.

I would contend that the use of the word “groomed” in Schofield’s case is actually homophobic, that in casting the relationship as paedophilic we are displaying our unconscious biases towards gay sexuality.

TRIGGER WARNING
(I would like to add that I am a survivor of child sexual abuse and my experience of grooming was that the paedophile convinced those around him that he was a fine upstanding man who could be trusted with children. I was seven when it happened and he lost interest when I was 12. That is paedophilia)

Agree.

It's not homophobia, OP.

It's a wholly inappropriate and unequal relationship of a much older, very powerful man with a very very young person.

This.

Even if there are not any more revelations to come than the things you have already stated, they are enough.* *

Particularly the consistent lying - to everyone (apparently).

Hardly homophobia.

It's the fact he groomed a 15 year old child. He's a pedophile.

My son has since said Philip Schofield used to Snapchat boys in his year (year 9) because he was well known for responding to “young fans” It was a well known thing (all boys school) I never knew about this at the time, and my son didn’t personally do it, but knew boys who did. To me, that’s predatory behaviour even if that was girls.

It is only paedophilia if he had sex with the 15 year old. He didn’t - to our knowledge.

Schofield had a shag pad on the Southbank near where TM filmed where he’d take men back to.

So what?

I agree. There appears to be a salaciousness to it in how some people are talking about it. They want the young man to have been abused and groomed as a child because it makes Schofield worse. They are creating specualtion about him being a pedophile without any evidence to back up the grooming or any underage abuse.

I think all this speculation about the runner as a child is quite sick. This is an actual person and all the people wanting him to be younger than he was and insisting repeatedly he was 9, 10, 11, 12 and not 18 when this all started (based on what we know) are wanting him to have been harmed as a child in order for Philip to be hated more.

People should stick to facts until more it known or the runner speaks for himself.

It isn’t homophobia. Most people supported him when he came out despite the fact he had lied to everyone for decades including his poor wife and kids, he still garnered a lot of support.

The issue here is the fact he seemingly groomed a teenager who was in a lower position than he was. Their affair started not long after meeting as well so the runner was still a teen, even if he was 18 at that point. A guy in his 50s should not be anywhere near a teenager, ever.

Cheryl didn’t start a relationship with Liam until he was in his 20s and she was like a decade older, not old enough to be his Mum.

Nothing wrong with that. Consensual sex between men is not a crime.
Have you ever seen Grindr? 😁

These aren't fact checked - but learned from social media so needs fact checking cos it's been spread for years now over on Twitter

PS followed the kid (first to initiate contact) 2 months before he met him in the theatre school on social media
PS met him at 10 years old - he's only admitted to entering a relationship once he was 18 but lots of speculation from pics online things began earlier (16 would still be "unwise but legal" and the guy is very babyfaced
PS was snapchatting multiple minors (not necessarily sexual just bizarre for someone of PS status)
PS pretty much ended the guy his career in tv after he was finished with him
PS friend of the same surname SS may have also been involved with the guy prior to PS/passed him on

Could all be untrue rumours but that should explain why people are thought to be "witch hunting" as people have been seeing this stuff for years now and thinking that a super injunction was the only reason why the press haven't reported it - lots of people believe it's far more sinister than what's come out yet - PS was apparently paying a lot of money to keep his reputation in tact

To the contrary, IMO if the runner had been female, I think this would have come to light a LOT sooner than it did

Yep, my ds said the same.

Yes, this has been known for years as some of the boys have posted screenshots of their snap conversations on social media. They were all pretty mundane conversations.

Nothing whatsoever to do with sexuality, it's about;
Grooming
Predation
Sexual exploitation
Abuse of power
Lies and cover ups
An huge institution's complicity and their failure to show any duty of care to junior staff.

As the parent of young adult children I am heartbroken at what this poor young man has been through, and am relieved he seems to have got through it in one piece. Just because someone is over the age of 18 it doesnt mean they are suddenly worldly wise and not at risk from predators with an unsavoury agenda, particularly if they've been groomed and manipulated since their youth.

Meanwhile, Bill Wyman lives out a comfy old age with no comeback at all. Poor Mandy Smith, used by all who she met.

The abuse of power and lies and institutional cover-up / ignoring are certainly supported but there isn't any evidence so far that he had groomed him since he was a child. We don't know what the relationship between them was or wasn't.

Yes it’s extremely unsavoury whichever way you look at it. Imagine at the school gates knowing the little kids and then once they’re no longer a minor forming a physical relationship with them even though you’re old enough to be their mum. That is never going to feel right in my eyes.

Nothing to do with the fact that he's gay. I couldn't give a hoot about that, being gay is perfectly normal/usual/absolutely fine. Better not to have cheated on his wife or have lied about it for years, but whatever.

It's because he's taken advantage of a vulnerable young person, allegedly grooming them. He was in a position of power and trust, and given that he met/befriended the young man when he was (very!) underage, there are serious questions about the appropriateness of their 'relationship' prior to the young man being a consenting adult. Even as a young 'consenting' adult, the power imbalance is sickening.

I'd liken it to a teacher/pupil 'relationship' tbh. And no one would call that a relationship in 2023. Rightly, it'd be recognised for what it is. Abuse.

If not worse!

Taking away the issue of age, there are big issues about seniors being in a relationship with their junior staff. I found out that one of my (in a relationship) colleagues was sleeping with his grad trainee and I was disgusted. My team only told me after they’d both left otherwise I would have reported it. Both were consenting adults but the power dynamics made it wrong and inappropriate. With PS you then have the questions about age, prior contact as a minor, all of the super injunctions, his brother and it becomes a very messy picture.

Check out the video that shows him sat at a table in a cafe with the young lad and I can guarantee you’ll be shocked at how young he is.

He met Schofield as a vulnerable teenage lad and was offered unbelievable opportunities in a field he wanted to work in. He no doubt will have been sexually inexperienced and possibly still get used to his own sexuality at that age.

The balance of power in that relationship was miles apart, even if nothing happened between them until the lad was 18. As a mother of a young gay lad I feel Schofield’s behaviour was nothing sort of extremely predatory and highly inappropriate.

The fact that the media has responded so strongly to it all suggests to me that the situation is way worse than we actually know. He’s a disgusting human being who deserves no sympathy from anyone.

Given that the runner is now believed to be around 21-22 it doesn't take a genius to work out that this relationship was highly inappropriate 6 - 8 years ago, possibly even longer.

He was groomed. And ITV/his management/friends/family were complicit in this. He was taking this lad to work and socialising with him. I hope that they are all held accountable.