Emily’s jibe at better off men in pay furore
NEWSNIGHT host Emily Maitlis made no attempt to hide her anger at the massive pay gulf that has split the BBC by taking a swipe at a colleague.
As embarrassing details emerged over what leading men and women are paid, Canadian-born Maitlis, 46, who failed to make the list of highprofile BBC staff earning more than £150,000, had a pop at the salaries of men colleagues.
The mother-of-two, who is out of contract at the broadcaster, was at a TechUK conference on Wednesday night hours after the rich list was published. To howls of laughter, she joked: “You’re an industry doing so well – soon you’ll be able to afford a BBC man.”
The jibe would have been discomforting to her co-presenter Evan Davis, 55, who earns between £250,000 and £299,999 for fronting the nightly BBC Two current affairs programme.
Her agent Alex Armitage tweeted that her pay was “beyond madness and being dealt with”.
Her comments came as it was reported she was among a number of BBC staff to be offered pay rises ahead of the report’s release on Wednesday but refused to accept.
Radio 4’s Sarah Montague, 51, is not on the high-earner list but co-presenter John Humphrys, 73, is paid between £600,000 and £649,999, making him the fourth highest earner.
Jane Garvey, 53, also not on the list, tweeted: “I’m looking forward to presenting BBC Woman’s Hour today.
“We’ll be discussing the gender pay gap, as we’ve done since 1946. Going well, isn’t it?”
Experts have predicted a slew of legal challenges over the pay divide.