BBC ‘agrees £750k payout’ to man who took fall for Bashir
So, what WILL total bill for Diana scandal be?
A WHISTLEBLOWER who raised the alarm over the tactics Martin Bashir used to secure an interview with Princess Diana has reached a settlement with the BBC.
Graphic artist Matt Wiessler is thought to have received £750,000.
He was blacklisted after flagging up concerns about the rogue reporter’s 1995 Panorama interview.
The BBC also issued an ‘unconditional apology’ yesterday ‘for the way he was treated by the corporation in the past’.
Mr Wiessler had been asked by Bashir to mock up false bank statements to help him get an interview with Diana.
But after highlighting what Bashir had done, he found himself barred from working for the BBC. Mr Wiessler claimed his business failed as a result and he was made the scapegoat for the scandal.
The BBC said the terms of the agreement to reflect lost earnings were confidential, but sources believe the payout is in the region of £750,000.
In August it was reported that Mr Wiessler had wanted £1million. In 1996, an internal inquiry led by the then head of news, Tony Hall, described Bashir as an ‘honest man’ and said Mr Wiessler would no longer work at the BBC.
Lord Hall said at the time: ‘We are taking steps to ensure the graphic designer involved – Matthew Wiessler – will not work for the BBC again.’
In a statement yesterday, the BBC said: ‘We would like to repeat our full and unconditional apology to Mr Wiessler for the way he was treated.
‘Mr Wiessler acted with complete integrity, including in raising his concerns at the time. We are sorry that these were not listened to.’ His law yer, Louis Charalambous, said: ‘Mr Wiessler is relieved that the BBC has now matched the director-general’s fulsome apologies with appropriate financial compensation for the wrongs done to him and the profound impact they had on his and his family’s life.
‘The BBC has acknowledged that he acted properly and responsibly throughout.’
A BBC source said it did ‘the right thing’, adding: They got it the wrong way round. Wiessler was the wronged party and Bashir was the villain. Now that wrong has been righted.’
Sources suggest there could be other settlement cases relating to the Bashir controversy. Other Panorama journalists, including Mark Killick, who helped raise Mr Wiessler’s concerns, have had talks with the BBC about potential compensation as they felt their careers and reputations at the BBC were damaged.
It has also been reported that William and Harry’s former nanny, Tiggy Legge-Bourke, could get damages after Bashir lied to Diana that her husband, Prince Charles, loved Miss Legge-Bourke.
BBC director-general Tim Davie apologised to Mr Wiessler in May following Lord Dyson’s report into Bashir’s methods. He said: ‘The person who raised this as an issue suffered enormous impacts. That cannot happen again.’
Lord Dyson said Mr Wiessler was an ‘entirely reputable graphic designer’ while Bashir had been ‘deceitful’.
The fallout has cost the BBC dear. It is paying £1.5million to a charity chosen by the Royal Family to make amends for the Diana interview.
Mr Wiessler was leaving the BBC to set up his own company when Bashir got him to create the false statements. He now co-owns a bicycle design firm. BBC’s woke training to curb
racial bias – Page 39