Mum’s fury at Yentob for using murdered son as ‘political pawn’
More pressure on BBC to axe ‘toxic’ creative boss
THE BBC is facing growing calls to axe its ‘toxic’ creative director Alan Yentob after he was accused of using a murdered teenager as a ‘political pawn’.
The grieving mother of 17-year-old Jerrell Elie, who was killed in August, yesterday attacked the corporation’s creative director, who was also chairman of the failed charity Kids Company.
Mr Yentob claimed on Thursday that the teenager’s death and a spate of stabbings and suicide attempts were a direct result of the collapse of Kids Company.
Amanda Elie said Mr Yentob had ignored her after Jerrell’s death, but still seized on the murder to defend his own record in front of MPs.
‘Of course Alan did not get in contact,’ she told ITV. ‘I don’t know who he is and he doesn’t know who I am. To use Jerrell like that is not fair because it goes deeper. Stop acting like you care when you don’t. [This is] just to get yourself out of hot water basically. These are people’s lives.
‘Did you know Jerrell’s name? Did you know you were referring to Jerrell? Did you just use him as a statistic?’
Miss Elie, 38, added in an i nterview with the Evening Standard: ‘ Since Jerrell died no one from Kids Company has come to my door. Someone left a message on my phone but i t was f rom a private number and I couldn’t call them back. They should have told us before using Jerrell as a political pawn.’
Mr Yentob made the extraordinary allegations to MPs on a Commons select committee after they accused him of making ‘wild’ predictions about the fallout from the charity’s closure.
He said: ‘Five days after Kids Company closed, a boy was murdered. He was going to the crime and prevention centres which were closed… That work [ of Kids Company] will be sorely, sorely missed.’
Mr Yentob did not mention Jerrell by name, but Kids Com- pany’s former spokesman confirmed that this was the murder he was referring to. The teenager attended one of the charity’s centres regularly.
The television executive did not produce any evidence to substantiate his claims, but insisted the events were linked.
However, he faced fresh criticism yesterday. Bernard Jenkin, chairman of the select committee, said: ‘For a mother to lose her child is a more painful thing than most of us can imagine. The committee did not wish to discuss i ndividual cases. I extend my deepest sympathies to the mother, and regret that this has deepened her distress.’
Speaking in his capacity as an MP, he added: ‘I have no doubt the BBC will be reflecting on the implications of all of this.’
Mrs Elie’s r esponse has heaped pressure on BBC director general Lord Hall to sever ties with Mr Yentob, who has intervened in the BBC’s Kids Company news coverage.
He said on Thursday he ‘regrets’ any intimidation of BBC staff but insiders said yest erday t he executive had become ‘ toxic by association’ and could be forced out of the corporation by Christmas.
Some predicted he would keep presenting his Imagine arts show, for which he earns £150,000-a- year, but would be stripped of his £180,000-a-year role as creative director. ‘He just puts a target on our backs,’ said a source. ‘What kind of organisation gives £330,000 a year to a guy who cannot give a straight answer [to a select committee]?’
Mr Yentob yesterday defended his decision to use Mr Elie’s murder, saying he was backing up his assertion that there would be ‘serious consequences’ to the closure of Kids Company. ‘I took care not to describe the circumstances or to name the individual,’ he said.
He added that he ‘ never intended to cause any distress’.
Yesterday, t he BBC was sticking by Mr Yentob. A spokesman said: ‘Alan has made, and continues to make, a valuable contribution as creative director and a programme maker at the BBC.’