Woman high-f lier hits out at Saatchi boss in sexism row
THE boss at the centre of the Saatchi and Saatchi sexism row has upset a ‘huge amount of employees’, said one of the firm’s most senior women yesterday.
Kevin Roberts, chairman of the world-famous advertising agency, ignited a global storm and was suspended after claiming that women lacked ‘vertical ambition’ and were ‘happier’ working for men than being the boss themselves.
Yesterday Saatchi’s global chief creative officer, Kate Stanners, defended the company against accusations Mr Roberts had been ‘hung out to dry by the politicallycorrect brigade’.
Miss Stanners, one of the most senior women in advertising, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘A huge amount of employees have been upset by how they have interpreted Kevin’s words.’
Interviewer Justin Webb suggested the agency had behaved in a ‘totalitarian’ way for gagging Mr Roberts, 66, who has been at the helm for 20 years, and asked her: ‘He has a right to speak about his experience, doesn’t he?’
Miss Stanners replied: ‘Kevin is his own character and speaks in his own words, but I don’t believe in what he’s saying. I don’t think women bail out. We do want the top jobs.
‘The most important thing is encouraging women to be more vocal and more high-profile, so younger women and women coming through the ranks can see it is possible and there is no reason why they can’t take those jobs.’
Mr Roberts was lying low in the Lake District yesterday as his critics continued to denounce him.
Dressed casually in shorts, he smiled and shook his head when asked about the row at his stunning glass and stone £1.5million hillside lodge.
In his interview with Business Insider, published on Friday, Mr Roberts said the ‘debate is all over’ about gender diversity in the advertising industry.
He said Saatchi had had talented women who ‘reach a certain point in their careers’ and two out of three turned down the chance to become creative directors.
He added: ‘They are going, “Actually guys, you’re missing the point, you don’t understand: I’m way happier than you.”
‘Their ambition is not a vertical ambition, it’s this intrinsic, circular ambition happy.’
Maurice Levy, chief executive of Saatchi’s parent company, Publicis, announced Mr Roberts’ suspension on Sunday evening.
He said: ‘It is for the gravity of these statements that Kevin Roberts has been asked to take a leave of absence… effective immediately.’
The remarks infuriated feminists and equality campaigners.
Josh Levs, a UN ‘global gender champion’, tweeted: ‘Gender bias is alive and well.’
But other Twitter users called the situation a ‘ridiculous overreaction’.
One asked: ‘Is honest analysis and opinion not tolerated by gender fascists?’
Another user commented: ‘Saatchi & Saatchi have hung Kevin Roberts out to dry.’
As the row rumbled on, Cilla Snowball, who was the first female chairman of the Advertising Association and now leads the Women’s Business Council, said of Mr Roberts’s comments: ‘Women want to progress on their own terms and men can help facilitate that.
‘This will not push us back. It’s been dealt with quickly and appropriately but does demonstrate the scale of the problem.’
‘Gender bias is alive and well’