BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 25: Piers Morgan attends British Britannia Academy 2019 … [+]
Getty Images for BAFTA LA
British television presenter Piers Morgan has been accused of bullying in an open letter to the ITV broadcaster from nearly 1200 UK television professionals.
The letter was circulated after the Good morning Britain a host engaged in a Twitter exchange with a former researcher, on Life Stories of Piers Morgan, Adeel Amini.
Amini has stepped down from his tenure at Life Stories to start a mental health support group The TV Mindset, lead the Pan-Broadcasting Consortium for Change and was also a business sponsor at the prestigious TV Festival Edinburgh last year.
Business response
Channel 4’s head of British broadcaster Angela Chan’s creative diversity criticized Morgan’s behavior in the exchange.
Chan said: “Adeel has achieved more promising change for this industry in the last year than most people do in life.
“You have the power to amplify voices like his. Your little bully on Twitter is just a glimpse into the abuses of power on TV. ”
As the story, originally picked up by the UK Broadcast publication, Morgan responded again via Twitter to Date journalist Jake Kanter, pointing to the perceived injustice of the situation.
ITV CEO Carolyn McCall and Kevin Lygo, managing director of media and entertainment, responded to the letter, saying: “ITV takes any real allegations of bullying and harassment in the workplace, and we are clear that there is no real place. there. ITV.
“We have an independent whistleblowing helpline which we communicate through our induction process and which we continually monitor, as well as our internal complaints procedures, which are open to all some permanent and non-permanent employees.
“Our strong understanding is that this tweet, in this case, did not accuse Piers of bullying and harassment while working on Life Stories. After talking to both parties, therefore there is no internal audit.
“With regard to the individual issue of social media exchanges, we understand that some producers want to express their views on their personal platforms, and we also believe that Piers is widely understood to be a prolific and long-time user of social media where he is known for engaging in strong, hot exchanges, when criticism is leveled against him.
“However, Twitter accounts and the decision to comment on each other are their personal preferences. Piers is a freelance presenter and we have no control over his output on social media, or on the other media platforms he writes.
“To reiterate, we are clear that there is no place for bullying at ITV and it is unacceptable. We are supportive and active in Confederation for Change, and will continue to work productively with colleagues in the industry. ”
The letter can be read below:
Dear Carolyn McCall, Kevin Lygo and ITV,
Like many within our industry, we are deceived by Piers Morgan’s online behavior in directing targeted abuse to a free surgeon. Morgan, with 7.7 million Twitter followers, has targeted and tagged a former employee in disgraceful positions.
As freelancers working within television, we feel a responsibility to speak out against bullying and harassment wherever we see it, including from people on screen who are too often badly criticized for inappropriate behavior and misbehavior.
Last year, discussions with The TV Mindset and other organizations, including The Coalition for Change, BECTU and the Edinburgh Television Festival, emphasized the need to eradicate the widespread issue of bullying and harassment. Now is the time for action.
We believe that silence versus harassment is a concern, which in turn allows bad behavior to continue behind the scenes at all stages of program making. In particular, the misuse of on-screen talent is too often monitored, at the expense of the self-esteem, health and safety of the self-employed.
We hope you agree with us in denying bullying in all its forms and publicly announcing the results of an investigation within ITV on this issue.
Yours sincerely,
Below