It is the crisis response everyone has been talking about.
Gregg Wallace has found himself at the centre of a scandal involving allegations of inappropriate behaviour.
And his decision to respond through a series of Instagram videos has managed to make a bad situation significantly worse.
The MasterChef presenter’s reaction turned up the heat on a story that had started to slide down the news agenda and propelled it back to the top.
It was so poor, the TV star found himself as the key ingredient in a Daily Star front page ‘cut out and keep crisis management advice for anybody called Gregg’. It added that ‘When you’re in a really, really, really deep hole, stop digging’.
Monday's DAILY STAR: When you're in a really, really, really deep hole..stop digging!#TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/DdoGIs82p4
— Jack Surfleet (@jacksurfleet) December 1, 2024
Good media crisis management advice.
So, what did the presenter say?
Well, around 7am on Sunday, he published some videos on his Instagram account.
In them, he said: “I’ve been doing MasterChef for 20 years - amateur, celebrity and professional MasterChef - and I think in that time I have worked with over 4,000 contestants of all different ages, all different backgrounds, all walks of life.
“And apparently now, I’m reading in the paper, there’s been 13 complaints in that time. Now, in the newspaper, I can see the complaints coming from a handful of middle-class women of a certain age, just from Celebrity MasterChef. This isn’t right.
“In 20 years, over 20 years of television, can you imagine how many women, female contestants on MasterChef, have made sexual remarks or sexual innuendo? Can you imagine?”
Gregg Wallace releases new video responding to complaints. https://t.co/2DsSxH1Hrj pic.twitter.com/ceUnakoQ4a
— Sky News (@SkyNews) December 1, 2024
We’ve already looked at how the Daily Star covered the story. Here are some other front-page headlines the response created:
Wallace: middle-class women of a certain age caused row Daily Telegraph
Shut Your cake hole, Gregg The Sun
DisasterChef Daily Mirror
Women of a certain rage! Metro
Outrage over Wallace’s middle-class women’ jibe The Guardian
That’s quite the collection of damning headlines. And it should come as no real surprise.
The presenter’s response was a gift for journalists.
It was tone-deaf, dismissive and arrogant.
And the timing suggests panic around the story narrative and a lack of good crisis PR advice lie at the heart of this recipe for disaster.
Coming out swinging like this may work for Donald Trump, but it was never going to work here.
I heard David Yelland, the former editor of The Sun, talk about it on Radio 4 ‘s Today programme.
He said: “If you are going to make a statement in a situation like this, it must be compassionate. Even if you are saying you are innocent, you must reach out and say, ‘I understand the hurt that these women are feeling’.”
That ties in with what we tell delegates during our crisis communication training courses. People need to know that you care before they care what you know.
Crisis responses should always lead with compassion.
And they should never blame. The line about ‘middle-class women’ and ‘innuendo’ sound like victim blaming. Or at the very least an attempt to shift some of it and present himself as a victim.
The use of numbers is also an own goal. Receiving 13 complaints from 4,000 contestants is seemingly presented positively – ‘It is only 13’. But most people would regard one complaint as too many.
The whole thing feels unrepentant.
Video updates can be a crucial addition to the crisis comms toolkit for individuals and organisations. It is something we see used more often, and videos can be a great way to communicate quickly to your audience.
But they must be used strategically rather than emotionally.
The presenter should have used his video updates to acknowledge the concerns about his behaviour, show he understands the seriousness of the situation and demonstrate a commitment to cooperate with the investigation.
When a crisis strikes and you are in the spotlight, you must move quickly to protect your reputation. There is little time for planning your responses, fact-checking or ensuring you have covered all the crucial bases. So, when the worst happens, wouldn't it be handy to have a checklist you can follow?
We should say that Mr Wallace has subsequently apologised.
He said on Monday: “I want to apologise for any offence that I caused with my post yesterday and any upset I may have caused to a lot of people.
"I wasn't in a good head space when I posted it. I've been under a huge amount of stress. A lot of emotion. I felt very alone, under siege yesterday, when I posted it.
"It's obvious to me I need to take some time out while this investigation is underway.”
'I wasn't in a good head space when I posted it I've been under a huge amount of stress.'
— Sky News (@SkyNews) December 2, 2024
MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace has apologised for comments he made in an Instagram video, responding to allegations made against him.https://t.co/58FoRcrTwh pic.twitter.com/glAemJiYYY
It sounds like his advisers finally got to him before he logged back into Instagram without advice and supervision.
Can this move to contrition save him?
It is finally a small step in the right direction. But so much damage has been done.
Even the Government has got involved, saying his response was “inappropriate and misogynistic”.
The recipe for redemption seems a long way away.
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