Lisa Nandy has voiced her disapproval at major TV players declining to pay annual fees to the UK industry’s new independent bullying and harassment complaints body.
Deadline revealed last month that the likes of Channel 4, Disney, and Amazon were refusing to fund the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA).
Nandy, the UK culture secretary, today confirmed our reporting, noting that U.S. streamers had been “very reluctant to sign up to CIISA” amid ongoing talks. Deadline understands that this also includes Netflix.
The minister reserved particular opprobrium for Banijay, which she claimed continues to be reticent about CIISA despite the misconduct scandal on MasterChef that resulted in hosts Gregg Wallace and John Torode losing their jobs. Both denied serious wrongdoing.
“I am genuinely quite appalled to learn from CIISA that Banijay, the production company behind the recent [MasterChef] headlines, had committed to sign up to CIISA, and it has not yet produced a single penny in funding,” Nandy told UK Parliament’s Culture, Media and Sport Committee.
“We do take a very dim view of companies who’ve had these [misconduct] issues, who have been heavily criticized for not having dealt with them, and then have not made good on those commitments [to CIISA].”
Deadline has contacted Banijay for comment. Netflix, Disney, and Amazon have declined to comment on their dealings with CIISA.
Sources at companies that have declined to back CIISA financially have questioned what the money is being spent on. There are also concerns that CIISA’s work is duplicative of standards already in place across the industry. “Writing guidance doesn’t represent value for money,” said one skeptic. “We would like more clarity over CIISA’s long-term remit, its mediation and investigative functions.”
Nandy said the government was “very open” to changing the law to compel companies to pay into CIISA, but this was seen as a last resort. “We believe that we can move faster to deal with the horrendous situation … and potentially be more effective if we can persuade a wider range of organizations to sign up,” she told lawmakers.
CIISA has declined to name and shame individual companies, but the organization is changing tack in the coming weeks. Nazir Afzal, a CIISA board member and former prosecutor, told Deadline last month that the body will actively publish its funding partners, effectively revealing non-funders by omission.
The BBC, ITV, Sky, Warner Bros. Discovery, BAFTA, and union Bectu have all pledged to make annual payments. Hundreds of other creative industry organizations have also signed up, including the Royal Albert Hall and Royal Shakespeare Company.
The idea of an independent misconduct authority has been kicked around by the industry since the Noel Clarke scandal four years ago, but its existence has become more pressing amid a string of power abuse crises involving the likes of MasterChef presenter Wallace and ITV chef Gino D’Acampo.
CIISA has asked stakeholders across TV, film, theater, and music to make annual contributions contingent on their annual revenue. Those with sales of more than £500M have been asked to pay £50,000 into CIISA, while the lowest contribution can be discretionary for companies with revenues of less than £250,000.
The post UK Culture Secretary Criticizes Streamers & ‘MasterChef’ Producer Banijay For Refusing To Fund Bullying & Harassment Complaints Body appeared first on Deadline.
