‘Don’t say women made it up,’ watchdog warns

Noor Nanji & Felicity BakerCulture reportersWatch: Ladies share tales of alleged inappropriate behaviour from Greg WallaceGregg Wallace has been warned by one of many nation’s most senior barristers to not say the ladies coming ahead with claims in opposition to him are making issues up.The feedback from Baroness Helena Kennedy, who chairs a watchdog geared toward enhancing requirements of behaviour within the artistic industries, come after 50 extra individuals contacted BBC Information with claims in regards to the TV presenter, which he denies.An inquiry into allegations of misconduct in opposition to him, carried out by an unbiased legislation agency on behalf of MasterChef’s manufacturing firm Banijay, is predicted to report again imminently.BBC Information has not seen that report, however Wallace insisted it had cleared him of “probably the most severe and sensational allegations”.His feedback got here because it emerged that he had been sacked as MasterChef presenter because of the inquiry into alleged misconduct.Because the face of BBC One cooking present MasterChef, Gregg Wallace, 60, was some of the high-profile presenters on British tv for 20 years. Defending himself on Tuesday, Wallace stated he had been employed “because the cheeky greengrocer. An actual individual with heat, character, tough edges and all”. In an interview with Newsnight, Baroness Kennedy stated the general public might need loved watching the cheeky chappy however that they had not seen his “uglier facet”. She stated if she had one bit of recommendation for the presenter, it will be to not dismiss the ladies’s claims.”There could also be a possibility so that you can make a comeback in some unspecified time in the future however do not say that each one of those girls have made these things up and do not say that it is all invented,” she stated.Baroness Kennedy additionally criticised managers throughout the TV trade for not dealing early on with issues regarding the MasterChef presenter.She stated that if managers employed individuals who didn’t know methods to behave, that they had a accountability to take them to at least one facet, and nip points within the bud as quickly as doable. “That was not performed,” she added.Wallace stepped other than MasterChef in November after our preliminary investigation on the finish of final yr, when 13 individuals accused him of creating inappropriate sexual feedback.The brand new claims come from individuals who say they encountered him throughout a variety of exhibits and settings.The bulk say he made inappropriate sexual feedback, whereas 11 girls accuse him of inappropriate sexual behaviour, comparable to groping and touching.One girl says Wallace took his trousers down in entrance of her in a dressing room, in what she described as “disgusting and predatory” behaviour.One other says she was left feeling “completely horrified” and “fairly sick” when he groped her.Different individuals who contacted us with new claims in regards to the presenter embrace:A participant on the BBC’s Saturday Kitchen – a present on the time that was produced in-house by the BBC – who says that, throughout a dinner forward of filming in 2002, Wallace put his hand underneath the desk and onto her groin, saying: “Do you want that?”A college pupil who says she met him in a nightclub with pals in 2013. She says after she requested to take a photograph with him, he reached underneath her skirt and grabbed and pinched her bottomA girl who says, at an trade ball in 2014, he put his hand up her gown and groped herAnother junior employee, along with Alice, who says in 2012 he dropped his trousers in entrance of her and wasn’t carrying underwear Plenty of males who say they witnessed Wallace making inappropriate sexual commentsMore latest claims, together with a 19-year-old MasterChef employee who says she tried to complain about Wallace’s feedback about her physique in 2022, and a former policeman who says he tried to lift issues about Wallace’s sexually inappropriate language to the BBC in 2023The allegations increase contemporary questions for the BBC and the opposite firms he labored for about their safeguarding practices and obligation of care.On Tuesday, Wallace wrote a prolonged Instagram put up during which he stated the “most damaging claims” in opposition to him “have been discovered to be baseless after a full and forensic six month investigation”.He added: “I can’t go quietly. I can’t be cancelled for comfort. I used to be tried by media and frolicked to dry properly earlier than the information have been established.”He accused the BBC of “peddling baseless and sensationalised gossip masquerading as correctly corroborated tales”.Banijay UK stated: “Whereas the exterior investigation is ongoing, we cannot be commenting on particular person allegations. We encourage anybody wishing to lift points or issues to contact us in confidence.”A BBC spokesperson stated: “Banijay UK instructed the legislation agency Lewis Silkin to run an investigation into allegations in opposition to Gregg Wallace.”We aren’t going to remark till the investigation is full and the findings are printed.”If you’re affected by any of the problems on this story, assist and assist is obtainable at BBC Motion Line.