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?

Oh look - Greg's mum isn't coming back!

And the groping and showing his cock?

The number of people minimising this kind of behaviour and making out like it's a couple of misplaced jokes is more worrying tbh.

There are more revelations now from more women @Toodaloo1567

They did complain. They were asked if they wanted to pursue it and, being young and needing to hang onto their jobs, they backed down.

Now, where have we heard that before?

The most recent reports tell of him pressing his crotch into a women when he passed her in a crowded supermarket (Eat well for Less.) and telling her she liked it.

Another time one woman was called to his dressing room to fasten his bow tie. She said his trousers were open, showing his pubes and penis.

Another had her bottom grabbed in a group hug.

These were YOUNG women who wanted to keep their jobs and not make a fuss.

He deserves all he gets. Horrible, grubby little man.

"Having said that, out of respect for the Professional Masterchef contestants, I really hope we do get to see the last few episodes of this series."

I agree with this, it's not fair for them to loose out because of his actions - particularly as this affects their future careers. I wonder if (after this week) then can edit him out or something.

New complaints have now come to light that indicate that this was more than banter. What a disgrace example of a man.
To anyone defending him, and I don’t know how they can, what if it was your daughter, wife, mother and possibly grandmother who was subject to this behaviour?

I mean…this tweet, says it all really doesn’t it? The man is vile.

Are you saying you wouldn’t be sacked for turning up to work naked with a sock on your dick?

Bit rich of him to have a go at middle class women, anyway. He may have started life as a working class lad in Peckham, but he doesn't live there now, does he? He's as middle class as they come now. I'd be willing to bet that plenty of women working in the media have also managed to move up the social ladder through education and effort. They won't all have been born with a silver-plated spoon in their mouths.

The way people are so quick to pour hate on someone and ruin their lives is very upsetting to me. There is no forgiveness and no understanding of where he is coming from.

Unfortunately for him, there is a huge amount of understanding about where he was coming from - a place of misogyny and horrible behaviour directed at women, mostly those he judged would not be able to take him on or speak out. How many lives has he ruined? People who have left jobs, developed MH problems, or just dreaded going to work. And he did it time and time again, despite their being complaints. He knew what he was doing. And he was arrogant enough to do it anyway. I am upset for all the women he encountered.

@ARichtGoodDram The number of people minimising this kind of behaviour and making out like it's a couple of misplaced jokes is more worrying tbh.

The number of women (assuming they are, nobody ever really knows who anyone is online) minimising it astounds me. It shouldn't but it does.

1. Several complaints were made over the years.
2. He didn't apologise.
3. His class has nothing to do with his behaviour at work.
4. Can you really think of no reason why younger women might be reluctant to call him out on bad behaviour? 🙄

Stupid apologist post.

They won't all have been born with a silver-plated spoon in their mouths.

Forget the 'plated' - those spoons are solid silver.

I hope they are ok living with a sexually aggressive misogynist, but we’re all different.

I’m a working class/middle class woman and not a mum either but Gregg should definitely be cancelled rather than just forgiven and we accept his misogynistic rubbish. This is a man who’s walked about with a sock covering his penis and has groped women as well as said suggestive things to them presumably using his power to ensure he wasn’t stopped.

Have we learnt nothing from Savile/Rolf Harris etc? It’d seem not.

Talking of roots, I'd just like to re-post what someone said on another thread because it made me laugh.

Misogynist Potato

Give over.

What's your actual agenda here?

This is true - however I am also from the East End and worked for many years in a male dominated environment (refuse!) and heard plenty of lewd comments. My point is that it may not be right, but it is something that happens. It does not mean a man should lose his livelihood and be taken over the coals by the whole nation. And that comment by Rod Stewart about how Gregg was a bully to his wife...is this the same Rod Stewart who slept with countless women behind his wife's back and lied to her face about it. He's hardly one to talk about treating women badly....

what, five pages already and still no deletion message?

I think that once this all started to come out it was over.

On a level when reading about the comments alone my view is what a sleaze and I wouldn’t want to work with him, how grim.

Then he came out with his defence in which he painted himself as some kind of victim and made himself look like even more of a twat. What’s that they say? When you’re already in a hole it’s a good idea to stop digging.

And today there have been new allegations. His career was over last week, this week I imagine he could be facing criminal charges if the allegations of inappropriate touching are true.

I didn’t agree with the calls to cancel the rest of the series of masterchef, the programme has already been recorded and it’s not all about him after all. But this is the end of his career.

I don’t like the term cancelled because I think that all too often people are “cancelled” for what often aren’t grave sins. But I do agree with his no longer having a place on our screens.

Boys and young men do and say crass things

But they shouldn't, boys and young men being let away with doing and saying crass things, can often turn into men who abuse and assault women. They should be called out and dealt with immediately.

No man ever just woke up one morning and went out a raped and murdered a women from nowhere, it builds up from years and years of saying and doing smaller things that they get away with, so they get more and more confident to get more and more predatory.

🤣🤣. She's off to tie Greggs tie for him and sympathise that all women are meanie, bitter snowflakes.

I didn't get past your first point. Just because he's working class doesn't excuse his behaviour. I'm working class and it's just fucking offensive to excuse his behaviour because of his "humble beginnings". JFC!

It’s illegal to grope people and show your dick in public. The rest is irrelevant after that. Though I suggest telling a colleague that the difference between jelly and jam is that you can’t jelly your dick up your girlfriends arse would be a disciplinary issue in most workplaces. He’s not accused of innuendo.

OP, Did you not see the item on the news where one woman was asked to help him do his bow tie, whiles his trousers were undone and partially lowered to expose the tip of his penis and his pubic hair. He stared her straight in the eye when she noticed. I would say that, in fact, indecent exposure is illegal. As is sexual assault (another woman talked about him deliberately rubbing himself against her during a supermarket shoot).

So, no, I don’t think he should be forgiven. Nor do I think the BBC/relevant production companies who have facilitated/enabled this behaviour and refused to address it by bringing ‘stars’ like him into line from the first complaint of its type. The power imbalance (male headliner v female/junior colleague or contestant) has been allowed to perpetuate, encouraged even, so that individuals like him escalate their behaviour. Now, on some level, some may argue that if he has not been told his behaviour was wrong it is natural that he reads it as being condoned but, come on, this was happening in the last 15 years not on a Carry On set in the 1960’s.

He absolutely needs to be cancelled, and those who have been behaving like him need to step forward with a #IveBeenAMisogynisticPervertToo admission and apology… and the BBC and every other channel/production company needs to apologise and put protocols in place that protect young women (and in cases like Philip Schofield) vulnerable young men so this stops. And, if necessary, there needs to be robust legislation that makes it very clear to companies everywhere that they have a duty of care to step up on this issue.

I bet it was a small sock that was covering it.

Yes I'm working class and I'm always wondering things like

"is it ok to mime oral sex in the workplace in front of my junior colleagues?"

Due to my humble roots, I just can't work it out.