‘Soon you’ll be able to afford a BBC man’: Maitlis has crack at her bosses
NEWSNIGHT presenter Emily Maitlis took aim at the BBC amid reports she could quit the corporation in protest over the gender pay gap.
She told the audience at a technology industry event where she was speaking that they were “doing so well, soon you’ll be able to afford a BBC man”.
The journalist, who previously worked on BBC London and the Breakfast News, was not on the list of on-air talent earning more than £150,000 while fellow presenters on the flagship current affairs show, Kirsty Wark and Evan Davis, both featured.
Maitlis, who is in the middle of contract talks with the BBC, pointedly retweeted Woman’s Hour presenter Jane Garvey’s remark that the show had been discussing the gender pay gap for more than 70 years as well as an article about production staff earning £16,000 a year.
Her agent, Alex Armitage, also tweeted saying that her exclusion from the pay list was “beyond madness and b e i n g d e a l t w i t h” . A B B C spokeswoman said: “Emily is one of the brightest stars in British journalism.
“Emily has been off rota for several weeks now while we negotiate a new contract and we hope to reach an agreement soon.”
The BBC’s biggest earner, Radio 2 DJ and former Top Gear star Chris Evans, said he phoned his elderly mother for advice on how to respond to tricky questions about his BBC salary, which was revealed to have been between £2, 200,000 and £2,249,999 in 2016/17.
He said the 91-yearold former nurse told him to “earn what you can, when you can, while you can” during a telephone conversation yesterday.
Speaking on his radio show, he told listeners: “So there you are — I’m going with what my mum said and that’s it. I don’t think you tune in to this show to hear us talk about these things but I had to say that this morning and had to be right and proper that I said that.
“I thank my mum for advice, as always, I live by her word and I will die by her word.”