ITV’s CEO Carolyn McCall’s grilling by Members of Parliament went exactly as expected, with her future no clearer than before.
The boss of the broadcaster was put under the microscope by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport Committee over her knowledge of the Philip Schofield scandal, as well as the broader culture at ITV.
She was interrogated alongside ITV’s managing director Kevin Lygo and general counsel and company secretary Kyla Mullins.
Her comments were as expected, defending the way ITV handled the situation and arguing it would have done more had it known more details.
Here is a rundown of some of the key findings.
February 2020
McCall claims she had been aware of Schofield’s affair with Person X (as referred to by ITV) in December 2019, but admits those rumours became more intense in February 2020.
Mullins notes that Person X was then asked about the relationship as press speculation began to mount, which was categorically denied.
Person X, through formal and informal meetings, was believed to have been asked about the relationship 12 times.
Schofield was also repeatedly asked about any relationship which was constantly denied, with McCall claiming: “Nobody here or on the management board would ever turn a blind eye to something as serious as this.”
Counselling
Schofield is receiving counselling at the request of ITV, with the broadcaster also funding it.
Person X received aspects of duty of care “as recently as last week,” even though he left the company nearly two years ago.
Contradictions
One potential hole in the ITV story that came out of today's inquest was whether Schofield left out of his own free will, or whether he was sacked.
When the disgraced presenter stood down, his initial statement said: “I understand that ITV has decided the current situation can’t go on.”
However, Lygo told the committee: "When he wanted to step down from This Morning... [he said] ‘there’s too much noise, I don’t want to do it anymore, I’m sorry’, and we said 'well, if you want to step down, you can step down'."
Rumours and hearsay
McCall defends ITV’s action, or lack of it, on the evidence that was provided when bosses were made aware of the allegations.
She said, “If someone had seen something” and the bosses were given “anything tangible not rumour” then it would have been accepted as solid evidence, at which point they would’ve acted.
This response was likely linked to claims made by GB News presenter and former host of Friday's edition of This Morning Eamon Holmes.
Holmes took to Twitter when rumours were confirmed, claiming four members of ITV management knew “what sort of man” Schofield was without ever taking any action.
Redundancy
Mullins confirmed that Person X did receive a payout but clarified this had nothing to do with his relationship with Schofield.
Instead, it was a standard redundancy payment due to his role becoming redundant after the Covid-19 pandemic.
This suggests that ITV is rejecting any motion that it paid Person X for his silence.
Of course, there is still an independent investigation into ITV being carried out by Jane Mulcahy KC, which may uncover further scandals.
Until the release of that report, it seems like McCall’s future remains in the balance.