The continuing ability of Paul Blanchard’s podcast Media Masters to draw in big names sits in stark contrast to the cancellations of women.
Over a year ago, we covered the experiences of Madelaine Hanson, a former employee of PR ‘guru’ Paul Blanchard. During this time, a number of other stories broke alleging a great deal of reprehensible behaviour on his part.
The Times, for example, reported that he was recorded saying he disliked “gay people and Jews”.
Byline Times reported claims from numerous employees, including allegations of language such as “Christ-killer”; “Jesus killer”; “They killed Jesus”.
This was also covered in Private Eye, along with a reference to Uncommon Ground Media itself.
Further to the above events, an open letter from ex-employees was directed at guests of his ‘Media Masters’ podcast.
1) Paul Blanchard’s ex- employees have written an open letter calling on guests of Media Masters to request deletion of their podcast. @johnsweeneyroar has already asked to have his episode taken off air. The MM episode released today features @BBCJonSopel pic.twitter.com/dRIDhDBUeb— Joe Middleton (@joejsmiddleton) July 16, 2020
A year after this, we can look back and see exactly what effect these revelations have had on the success of Paul Blanchard’s podcast: very little.
#BBCMarketplace has been a proud part of the #5050project since its launch. With @BBCRosAtkins @NinaTheScoop @lara_jo and Angela’s support we’re moving into the next phase. Looking forward to sharing best practice & learnings from my team of @VictoriaCraig @jonfrewin @irishjourno https://t.co/vWE8VUVZTY— Leisha Chi-Santorelli (@BBCLeisha) April 8, 2021
He has continued to host many senior staff at the BBC, some of whom did so in the name of promoting a workplace equality campaign!
I’ve deleted my tweet as I don’t want something positive about the work we’re doing in the BBC on diversity to be used for personal attacks on others. If you have issues with Paul please could you take those up direct with him rather than using social media— Justin Bones (@justinbones) April 6, 2021
Despite warnings being raised by a number of concerned individuals, this has continued largely unabated, with those contacted either ignoring the messages or brushing them off as ‘personal attacks’. This includes the BBC itself, which refused to comment on the apparent tolerance of their staff for the appealing behaviour displayed by Mr Blanchard.
Loved taking part in this excellent podcast series! https://t.co/Y6GSxBqRSF— Juliet Kinsman (@JulietKinsman) June 8, 2021
Furthermore, Blanchard himself has been appointed to a media advisory panel of the Free Speech Union, despite his own attempts to suppress negative stories featuring himself.
At Uncommon Ground Media, we have covered many instances which point to the existence of a ‘cancel culture’. The victims of this have been overwhelmingly women, and disproportionately lesbian and/or members of an ethnic minority.
It is appalling to compare the way in which these women have been treated with the seemingly Teflon skin of Paul Blanchard, who glides from opportunity to opportunity without once being held accountable for his past behaviour.
Given the history of claims made by Mr Blanchard, however, we must be sceptical of his latest announcement. Has the world famous rap star known as “Cardi B” agreed to some kind of project with Paul’s firm Right Angles? Only time will tell if this is yet another empty boast.
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