Gregg Wallace allegations: '#MeToo has now been weaponised against the victims'
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Gregg Wallace has apologised for his comments about “women of a certain age”, but not addressed allegations concerning his behaviour on the set of Masterchef towards women.
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In brief…
- Wallace has said sorry for “offence caused” in an Instagram video, and said he has felt “under siege” as allegations against him emerged.
- The News Agents claim the #MeToo movement and its concepts are being used by some men to push back on women, and to paint themselves as the victim.
- Some women remain hesitant to speak up about their experiences for fear of being labelled “middle class and menopausal”, says Emily Maitlis.
What's the story?
TV chef Gregg Wallace has apologised to followers on Instagram.
Not because of allegations made against him that he made inappropriate sexual comments by former contestants on Masterchef, but in case his comments about women "of a certain age" offended anyone.
Wallace is currently facing claims he made inappropriate remarks to a number of high-profile women while filming the celebrity version of the show. These include journalist Kirsty Wark and TV presenters Kirsty Allsopp and Ulrika Johnson.
He has denied all claims made against him, and in his first comment on the situation blamed complaints on "middle class women" who had appeared on the show.
A day later, and following a lot of backlash r, he told followers he was sorry for the offence caused, and that he had felt "alone" and "under siege" when he posted his initial comment.
The BBC is investigating the claims made against Wallace, and currently intends to continue broadcasting new episodes of Masterchef, including a scheduled Christmas special.
But his initial comments landed badly, and his 'apology' video hasn't been received much better.
'Gregg Wallace trying to appeal to men for support'
What to know about the Wallace apology video
"I want to apologise for any offence I caused with my post yesterday," said Wallace on social media.
"I wasn't in a good headspace when I posted it. I've been under a huge amount of stress, a lot of emotion. I felt very alone, under siege.
"I need to take some time out now, while this investigation is underway."
Jon Sopel believes Wallace may have misjudged the entire conversation around his behaviour for the second time.
"It's not about whether people have taken offence to what you said on Sunday," Jon says.
"It's whether they've taken offence over the way you have behaved in the past that has led to these complaints, and he is not apologising for that in this latest statement."
Wallace’s apology video followed a string of screengrabs of supportive messages from fans on his Instagram story. In one, a man told him he shouldn't need to say sorry for "jokes" and another male supporter blamed "the woke brigade" for attempting to "destroy" the chef.
Emily Maitlis adds his comments about being "under siege" may have been used to rally even more support from male followers.
And, she says, this comes straight from the Donald Trump playbook of playing "victim culture" when criticised for your alleged actions.
Jon has one request to make of people crying about "cancel culture" in this instance, or blaming the #MeToo movement for making it so "you can't be a proper bloke anymore"
"Can everyone please grow up?" Jon says.
"The bigger picture, that somehow men are now oppressed, strikes me as total bollocks."
'The idea that men are now more oppressed is total b******s'
What can the BBC do?
In recent years, the BBC has faced investigations into the behaviour of top names such as Jimmy Saville, Tim Westwood and Russell Brand.
But the situation with Gregg Wallace revolves around a high-profile star currently hosting one of the broadcaster's biggest TV shows, one scheduled for a prime slot during the Christmas period.
An external review will be held to determine what happened on set, but Jon is doubtful it will have any substantial result.
"You can have production companies, the BBC or any other network saying it has a zero tolerance approach to inappropriate behaviour, but it's a zero tolerance approach up to a point," he says.
"They know that the star brings in ratings, and ratings equals money or justification for a license fee."
Emily says the BBC will now be "agonising" over the right course of action to take.
"There will be an awful lot of female staff in New Broadcasting House who will be horrified if nothing happens and there is no sanction against Greg Wallace," she says.
If Wallace does lose his contract with the BBC, since no crime has been committed, The News Agents believe it’s still possible for him to follow in the footsteps of Jeremy Clarkson and "make a fortune" working for another broadcaster.
What's The News Agents take?
Emily sees the Wallace situation – and his comments on social media in particular – as an example of a long-gestating pushback, from men, to the #MeToo movement, which hit the mainstream in 2017.
It led to women sharing their own stories of sexual abuse, assault and misconduct, and was responsible for the jailing of Hollywood exec Harvey Weinstein.
"If you told me when the #MeToo movement first reared its head, that it would somehow be weaponised against the victims so successfully that actually it became quite helpful to the male cause, I would have thought you were absolutely batshit crazy," she says.
"Now look at the #MeToo movement and I think it's actually helped men, inversely, because it's sort of given them a platform to push back on."
Additionally, she knows exactly why it was women "of a certain age" who felt confident enough to go public with their claims against Wallace.
"It was a few women of a certain age because they were the ones who had the self confidence, who dared to," she says, saying anyone more junior working on shows would be more hesitant to speak out due to concerns of how it might affect their income and career.
"The truth is that women often don't want to speak out about this stuff, because they just get called middle class and menopausal," she adds.
"Worse, they see nothing actually changes."
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