The chief executive of the British TV network ITV defended two morning show anchors over accusations they skipped a line five miles long to see the deceased Queen Elizabeth II. Carolyn McCall said the anchors, Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, did nothing wrong.
The scandal started when the anchors, who host a show called This Morning, were seen strolling through the VIP line on the live-feed of the proceedings, according to Variety. Ever since then, people have been attacking them on social media.
There’s also a petition circulating called “Axe Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby from TV.” It has more than 75,000 signatures. And that’s not all. Even Domino’s Pizza U.K. dunked on Schofield and Willoughby with a tweet that apologized to people waiting for pizza because “we’ve just received an order from Holly and Phil.’” It got more than 168,000 likes.
McCall was interviewed by BBC journalist Amol Rajan and shared that she wanted to know “exactly” what the anchors did wrong.
“Well, honestly, nothing. Honestly. They did have accreditation. Lots of people saying they didn’t. They were sent by This Morning to do a piece for September 20th, which ran. They were to interview people inside and outside. They didn’t displace anyone in the queue. And actually, they’ve been very misrepresented and that’s why we made a statement – unusually we made a statement to say all of those things – but it does show you how kinds of things spread and how misinformation just spreads and it is really horrible for them.”
When the pair appeared on the live-feed, people on social media accused the pair of jumping the queue and skipping ahead of celebrities who were waiting hours, like Tilda Swinton, James Blunt, and David Beckham. Rajan asked McCall if the duo were victims of cancel culture.
“Well, they’ve not been – well, I mean, they’ve not been cancelled, have they? I mean, I think they’re highly relevant and still very topical and I think the majority of their viewers love watching them. But there is a very shrill kind of voice against [them] and it will hurt.”
Critics of the pair say that there was no need for them to enter the hall, especially since there were live-feed cameras and the segment wouldn’t air until the day after funeral.
McCall also said she checked in with the anchors and said that: “I don’t think they’re feeling great, it’s hard. I mean, you imagine yourself in the eye of a storm like this, when you’re trying to say you’ve done nothing wrong, and all the noise around you is saying that you have. It’s difficult to handle.”
However, when asked if Schofield and Willoughby were secure in their positions at work, she replied, “of course.”