Pay of BBC’s top actors to stay secret
Loophole means stars earning £450,000 will not have to divulge their earnings
THE BBC’s highest paid actors will avoid having their salaries disclosed under new rules due to a loophole which has caused anger among some of the corporation’s best-known presenters, The Daily Telegraph has learnt.
Stars such as Hugh Laurie, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Tom Hiddleston, will avoid having to disclose their fees for starring in some of the BBC’s most popular dramas – even if they breach the £450,000 threshold set out by ministers last week – because they are not considered full-time staff.
At least nine BBC presenters – including Gary Lineker, Chris Evans and David Dimbleby – will have details of their salaries published despite potentially earning less than their acting counterparts.
Some of the corporation’s most recognisable stars have told The Daily Tel
egraph that there is mounting anger among senior presenters that actors will avoid the new transparency rules while television stars face public ire.
One of the corporation’s household names, whose salary will be disclosed, said: “Some of the highest paid will not be included, which exposes the process for what it is; a cheap hit.”
Another said it was a “mystery” that leading actors’ pay would not be disclosed, while a third said that the opt- out meant that “the whole thing falls apart”.
Lord Hall of Birkenhead, the BBC director-general, has agreed to name stars paid more than his own £450,000 salary, starting next year, after fighting off a proposal from John Whittingdale, the Culture Secretary, to set the disclosure threshold at £150,000.
Ministers have accepted that the rule will not apply to performers who are not paid directly by the BBC and instead contracted by independent production companies, who produce many of the broadcaster’s top dramas, including Sherlock and The Night Manager.
The corporation’s latest annual report disclosed that it paid nine stars more than £500,000 a year in 2014-15. Those who lie above the threshold this year are also said to include Graham Norton, Huw Edwards, Fiona Bruce, John Humphrys and Jeremy Vine.
BBC presenters who will be named under the new directive have told The
Daily Telegraph they are frustrated that they face becoming the focus of public anger.
In negotiations with ministers, BBC executives argued that disclosing stars’ pay would lead to an exodus of talent.
However, none of the leading stars, who all spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the change would lead them to quit the corporation. One said: “Do we like it? Not much! But life goes
on. It’s a cheap hit and it will cause some angst, but that’s the aim of course. Yes, we are well paid, but most of our opposite numbers in the commercial world are paid far, far more.”
Another said: “Why would something as unimportant as this bother me?”
Norton, whose £2.5 million pay packet has already been disclosed in the accounts of his production company, is said to be similarly relaxed.
A friend of the star said: “He’s OK about it. He’s got nothing to hide.”
Chris Evans, admitted last week that stars like him “get paid too much money”, adding: “Most of us work part-time anyway so just pay us less – that’s what I would do.”
One of the arguments deployed by the BBC against setting the disclosure threshold at £150,000 was that it would capture many senior journalists.
Executives argued that it would make it difficult for them to grill politicians, who would attack their salaries if they faced difficult questions.
Humphrys is understood to be the only Today programme presenter paid in excess of £450,000. But he is said to be comfortable with his salary being disclosed. “John does not give a s---,” one friend said.
A gossip website reported earlier this week that Eddie Mair, the Radio 4 presenter, is paid £425,000 a year by the BBC, taking him just below the disclosure threshold. But sources at the corporation said the story was a “laughable exaggeration”, and that Mair’s true salary was at least £100,000 lower.
Andrew Marr, who presents a Sunday morning political programme, is also understood to fall under the £450,000 threshold.
One concern raised was that disclosing their pay would damage their ability to earn lucrative moves to the commercial sector, because they willingly take a discount to work at the BBC.
The agent to one of the BBC’s most high-profile presenters said that because they are paid less than commercial presenters their “value” would be publicly damaged.