‘Bullied’ Vine paid £100,000 top-up by BBC

THE BBC agreed to hand Jeremy Vine a guaranteed payment of up to £100,000 on top of his main salary after his agent complained the presenter felt “bullied” by the corporation.

The money was in addition to the high six-figure sum Vine received for presenting his Radio 2 show, Panorama, Eggheads and news specials, and would be paid regardless of whether he did any extra work.

It was negotiated by Alex Armitage, Vine’s agent, to kick in during the final year of a three-year deal.

The BBC described it as “a top-up clause that would guarantee the BBC would find extra work to a value of £100,000 or a guaranteed payment of up to £100,000 if it did not”. Vine’s fee for Points of View was eventually offset against it.

Details of the unusual deal were given during the employment tribunal of Samira Ahmed, who is suing the BBC over equal pay and arguing that she should have been paid the same for her job on Newswatch as Vine was paid for Points of View.

The evidence dates back to 2007, when Vine’s contract was up for renewal and Armitage asked for a significant pay rise for his client.

With negotiations in deadlock, Armitage sent an email to Roger Leatham, the BBC’S director of business affairs, saying Vine had “bent over backwards to accommodate the BBC”.

He went on: “The BBC must now stop bullying this artist and pushing him around on this deal and listen to him. He has treated you with great respect and

‘So stop treating him like a chattel and pay him properly in year three’

moved his position greatly. So stop treating him like a chattel and pay him properly in year three and let’s have some mutual respect that is not meaningless words not backed up with money.”

Vine’s subsequent pay deals did not include the £100,000 top-up. He took a voluntary pay cut after the BBC’S 2017 gender pay gap was disclosed, and has said: “I really was appalled at the disparity with my female colleagues, because I did not know anything about that.”

The case continues.