Feltz: I would not sign letter protesting at gender pay gap
Broadcaster says disparity in BBC salaries is too ‘complicated’ to label as simple discrimination
VANESSA FELTZ, the BBC broadcaster, has said she would “probably not” have signed a letter by her female colleagues demanding equal pay, arguing the issue is “more complicated” than simple discrimination.
Feltz, who earns between £350,000 and £399,000 and is the corporation’s highest-paid female radio star, said there are “all different reasons” why individual men and women would be paid unequally, condemning the “gross” exposure of her salary.
Criticising the report into BBC talent pay as “prurient and voyeuristic”, she said: “It’s nobody’s business how much
‘Obivously people should be paid the same for the same work but in this instance it’s more complicated’
I earn.” In July, the corporation’s report showed two thirds of its top earners are men, with just one woman, Claudia Winkleman, in the top 10.
Chris Evans. the Radio 2 presenter, was paid more than £2.2million, Jeremy Vine more than £700,000 and
John Humphrys more than £600,000.
In an interview with The Guardian, Feltz strongly objected to the publication of the report.
The BBC itself had resisted the publication, calling it a “poacher’s charter”, but had been compelled to back down while negotiating its new Royal Charter.
Among the disclosures was the stark gender pay gap, with stars including Jane Garvey, Sue Barker, Emily Maitlis, Sarah Montague, Mishal Husain, Kirsty Wark, Elaine Paige, Samira Ahmed, Victoria Derbyshire, Angela Rippon, Sue Barker, Alex Jones and Fiona Bruce all adding their names to an open letter calling for equal pay throughout the organisation.
It said: “The pay details released in the Annual report showed what many of us have suspected for many years... that women at the BBC are being paid less than men for the same work.” Feltz said she had not received an invitation to sign the letter, because she does not use email.
“Look, thank God nobody asked me,” she told the Guardian. “I didn’t see the letter so I didn’t have to make any decision about signing or not.” Asked whether she would have signed if she knew about it, she said: “Probably not.
“How do you prove two people on the same show are doing an equal job? Has one of them been around longer, has one of them been poached from somewhere else and therefore they had to be offered more money? “There are all different reasons why people get paid different amounts. “I don’t approve of a gender gap. Obviously I think people should be paid the same for the same, but in this instance I do think it’s a bit more complicated than that.”
On the publication of salaries overall, she argued nobody in Britain discusses how much they earn with friends or colleagues. “I don’t see how it’s enlightened anybody,” she said. “What were they hoping to discover? It’s utterly pointless. It’s like asking what does everybody get paid at Mcdonald’s without asking Burger King. “I was embarrassed and I thought it was prurient and voyeuristic. It was just gross. It’s nobody’s business how much I earn.”