Hoping that Greg Wallace is forgiven, rather than cancelled

[Toodaloo1567]

Just a few concerns about this whole GW thing. Caveat: I do not condone behaviour that is illegal.

1. It does kind of look like a whole bunch of privileged TV luvvies are clamouring to denounce someone with really quite humble roots. I grew up in London and am constantly paranoid about how I come across to my mainly middle class colleagues. The thing is, middle class and privileged people operate by a set of unwritten rules. It’s like a full time job in itself trying to emulate their way of interacting, lest you be called out for not being ‘nice’ enough or doing something odd to them, like forgetting to start an email with ‘Hope you are well?’. Only, they won’t let you know to your face that you’ve accidentally been too sharp or direct, or maybe that your joke wasn’t woke enough - no, that stuff just goes straight to HR.
2. The equality act 2010 makes it the employer’s responsibility to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. Why wasn’t all this lewd stuff dealt with? GW said that no one had made a formal complaint. Again, it makes me wonder whether the middle class luvvies just didn’t want to call things out at the time because it’s ‘beneath’ them to even consider doing something about it.
3. Even though he’s apologised, the public doesn’t think that’s good enough. It’s like only perfect people get to keep their careers. Woe betide you if you said something crass on twitter 10 years ago, or got caught speeding or something.

Of course, lots of you would want to shout me down over this, but you know what? We’re all mums here and many of us have sons. Boys and young men do and say crass things. GW hasn’t raped or systematically abused anyone. It doesn’t make what’s happened right, but I also don’t think it’s right that swarms of pitch-fork waving strangers get to play judge, jury and executioner. I’m a big fan of forgiveness. Am I the only one?

@MurdoMunro Surely the baldness has to play it's part somewhere in the blame game.

It's a shame for him that Brexit and COVID have gone out of vogue a bit now.

"How about nutmeg or toads?" I'll raise you cinnamon and newts.

We’re all mums here and many of us have sons. Boys and young men do and say crass things.

Just a thought. Maybe teach your sons not to then…

You're either a totally deluded pick-me or Greg Wallace.

@MurdoMunro or turnips. Can't stand the fuckers myself so blame all life's ills on them.

Just trying to cross reference these stories a bit cos there's so many it's had to keep track.

This story says
The Telegraph reported that Wallace mimicked a sex act with a former member of the production team, having spoken to someone who claims to have witnessed the alleged incident. The presenter is said to have held the head of the staff member and thrust his body towards her when she was knelt down in front of him to clean a mark off his trousers.

The Telegraph itself says
The investigation began after The Telegraph approached a former staff member who claims that she was asked to clean a stain off Wallace’s trousers, at which point he mimicked a sex act.

She says that, in front of other production staff, he held the back of her head and thrust his body towards her. She was young at the time and found the incident “distressing”.

The woman subsequently decided to make a formal complaint to the BBC about the alleged incident, which took place over a decade ago.

The Telegraph has also spoken to one of the people who is said to have witnessed Wallace’s behaviour and understands they have also spoken to the BBC.
Two people - one victim, one witness, same incident. Formal complaint. Both have talked to the BBC over it.

Source:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/28/gregg-wallace-masterchef-sexual-behaviour-claims/

A couple of mistimed or badly thought out jokes are one thing, but have you heard about all the weird shit he has said to people. There was a retired cabbie on lbc the other day saying Gregg got in in his cab a few years back and immediately started asking intimate questions about his wife and sex life which he immediately shut him down on, being a man it was probably easier to say it to Gregg than when youre a women you are more likely to shut down yourself to avoid confrontation with a male, it is uncomfortable and when it happens you do freeze . I don't think the guys a danger but he clearly has been making a lot of people very uncomfortable and should have thought ling and hard about how and why he should apologise rather than do his twitter rant, which was just deflection and not taking ownership of his mistake. The guys 60, I know countless 60 year old men that don't upon meeting you, seek to make lewd comments. He has no excuse. I do think if he had handled this differently he could be in a better position now but he has completely f'd himself

We’re all mums here and many of us have sons

I have sons. I’d be absolutely mortified if I’d brought them up to sexually assault juniors at work.

I also have daughters. One of my daughters is breaking into the tv/film industry. Gregg Wallace is exactly the sort of man who could kill her career stone dead if she objects to him pushing his dirty cock up against her or groping her arse or asking her questions about her sex life. Do you really think I’d rather she lost her career to make it easier for my sons to make disgusting comments to women and rub themselves up against them and expose their dicks? My daughters career is, if anything, more important than my sons’ (and they don’t actually need to sexually assault people to do their jobs, dd does actually need to not be sexually assaulted to do hers.) I can’t believe people really think “but imagine your ds wanted to flop his cock around at work…” is a reasonable argument for sexual harassment.

It’s interesting to think though what could be deemed cancellable in the coming years. We seemed to have crossed a blurred line here where innuendo is (perhaps rightly) being added to the list of sins. But innuendo was everywhere up until very recently. I’m thinking of the woman who presents naked attraction, will she be cancelled too? Wasn’t Sara Cox fond of a bit of innuendo on the girlie show back in the day?
Mel Sykes said that Gregg Wallace helped make her decision to quit her tv career , but as I remember it even Des and Mel was an innuendo filled show. and didn’t she work with Gino de Percy Campo?
And how is he even still on tv ? anyone remember the crude joke he made about Holly Willoughby on a Christmas show years ago when he offered her 20k to squat and make a bottle disappear up her skirt?
I remember watching and finding it repulsive but Holly was giggling away.

Gino de PERVY campo

It isn’t innuendo he’s accused of.

Who are all these people who can’t see the difference between innuendo between peers or that is consensual (ie you sign up for Naked Attraction you know there’s going to be innuendo) and people in a position of power deliberately using sex talk to make their inferiors feel uncomfortable?

Has he actually asked for forgiveness?

Wouldn't that need some form of recognition from him?

Nutmeg, toads, cinnamon, newts…we’re straying into witchcraft territory here and you know who’s fault that will be? It’s WOMEN. The witches cast spells on him intending that his cock would fall off and that’s why he had to put a sock on it. This could all end very badly. We should be careful. Just leave a turnip on his front step as a warning to him and leave it at that.

Made me LOL @Toodaloo1567 Thanks for the laugh 😆

Can anyone tell the difference between a late night show where people know they are going to be taking all their clothes off and a prime time family cooking competition?
no?

It’s a blurred line. It’s like the blurred line between bullying and ‘banter’.

He should have been cancelled a long time ago. He's vile, has always been vile. I'm amazed its taken this long for all this to come out. Oh and remember there's a second g in his name 🙄

It’s been an education discovering from the OP that working-class women are apparently fine with sexual harassment and being called b1tches to their faces.

I always assumed they shared the same desire for respect and safety as m/c women.

Silly old prissy me. I thought having a penis ground against you against your will was awful but I now know I am being a princess.

There is no 'blurred line' with quite a number of these allegations.

If you read what they actually say.

The line has been well and truly crossed and several miles of liberty taken.

If he hadn’t posted the “women of a certain age “ video then things would be a lot calmer than they are right now. If he’d shut up, he’d also be able to drag out more months /years of his BBC salary and pension payments the way that Hugh Edwards did.

You can’t forgive someone who thinks he’s the victim and is clearly not sorry. If he was apologetic then he would have changed how he behaved at work years ago because that should have been his wake up call that he could lose everything. It was known years ago that he was a nob years ago - if we knew then people in the industry would have known years before that.

I think that he’ll announce that his a sex addict or neurodivergent next. I’m not saying that ND people behave like predators btw - I think they it will be used as an excuse why he couldn’t control his impulse to act inappropriately.

As for the people who don’t understand why people don’t report straight away - wtf. GW earns 400k - if you were a production assistant on less than 10% of that- would you really report and risk your career? How do you afford legal help and encourage other staff paid by the BBC to risk their careers too? Lots of people (men and women ) deal with being a victim by pretending it didn’t happen. Quietly moving on rather than risking being labelled as difficult or over sensitive is a natural way to protect your career. Don’t contestants sign NDAs? Would you risk being sued by someone who has deeper pockets than you and will inevitably be able to provide character witnesses because their star power makes them influential ?

I think that there’s more that will be revealed. If GW wanted to protect his son and wife then he’d resign quickly or reveal all so that we aren’t drip fed for the next few weeks. Justice is slow (as we can see with Russell Brand ) and there’s a market for people like Gregg on other platforms that believe he’s a misunderstood and oppressed man.

Joke post? Male poster of a certain age, ethnicity and background?

In Bake Off, they're all in on the joke. It's not done as a power play to make the contestants uncomfortable

There is a difference between the innuendo on say Bake Off with innuendo about or directed towards an individual. If you’re a presenter who is unsure of the difference and have been warned about it then why the hell wouldn’t you stay away from that angle ?

Mary Berry threw her crotch into the face of a junior staff member trying to clean off something from her trousers.

Prue Leith told rape jokes and was forced to apologise for it by the crew.

Noel threw his clothes off and ran around the Bake Off Tent in a state of undress.

Right?

Blurred line my arse.