After an incident in 2018, James Martin apologised for creating “offence or upset.”
According to reports, the TV chef engaged in harassing and aggressive behaviours while filming an ITV show.
According to reports, a complaint was filed to the broadcaster in May of this year by close colleagues, and as a result, Martin was confronted and told to improve his behaviour.
According to Deadline, it was claimed that in 2018, while filming James Martin’s Saturday Morning, the presenter ‘launched a foul-mouthed tirade against staff’ when a drain in his home became blocked.
‘An unfortunate occurrence occurred after recording James Martin’s Saturday Morning in 2018 where James’ home was extensively destroyed,’ his agent said. Blue Marlin Television admitted fault.
‘James was shocked by what had happened and on reflection acknowledges he responded emotionally, which he wholly regrets.
‘James apologises for any offence or upset caused, as he did at the time to the crew involved.’
The statement went on to say Martin agrees with the production company that ‘lessons have been learned’ after the incident and ‘issues’ during filming James Martin’s Spanish Adventures.
According to Deadline, he raised concerns about the manner he handled members of his team while filming for the show, which follows earlier installments in nations such as France and America.
Martin was accused of causing employees to cry in front of their coworkers and changing plans at the last minute while coming an hour late to a shoot set for the morning earlier this year while filming Spanish Adventure.
‘What’s surprising is I noticed similar conduct on every project I did with him and it feels deliberate,’ said a producer who has previously worked with the chef. I guess he just thinks it’s OK to act like that.’
It’s claimed that a senior ITV executive spoke to Martin the same week that ITV CEO Dame Carolyn McCall was grilled by MPs about former This Morning host Phillip Schofield, his departure from the broadcaster, and his admission that he lied about having a ‘unwise but not illegal’ affair with a younger employee.
James Martin’s statement in full:
An unfortunate incident occurred after filming James Martin’s Saturday Morning in 2018 where James’ home was badly damaged. Blue Marlin Television accepted responsibility.
James was shocked by what had happened and on reflection acknowledges he responded emotionally, which he wholly regrets. James apologises for any offence or upset caused, as he did at the time to the crew involved.
Following this and some issues filming James Martin’s Spanish Adventures, James and Blue Marlin Television agree that lessons have been learned which have been discussed with members of the team and with ITV. Blue Marlin Television and James Martin have taken on board ITV’s recommendations and their sharing of best practice, and are in the process of fully implementing. Since the 2018 incident, Blue Marlin Television has continued to film over 500 shows at James’ home.
Blue Marlin Television remains committed to ensuring the welfare of all those with whom they work is of the utmost priority.
ITV said that the welfare of the people who work on their shows was its ‘highest priority’ when questioned by Deadline over the complaints made about Martin.
An ITV spokesperson also said: ‘At ITV people and their welfare are our highest priority. The production companies who make shows for us have primary responsibility for the duty of care of everyone they work with, both on and off screen. We make clear our expectations in this regard as part of our pre-greenlight duty of care processes. This includes having appropriate independent controls in place to enable everyone who works on their shows to confidently and confidentially raise concerns.
‘Following a complaint we received in May from members of the Blue Marlin production team about the filming of James Martin’s Spanish Adventure, we contacted Blue Marlin to discuss these concerns and to understand how the issues raised were being addressed and what actions were being taken.
‘As a result, we made a number of recommendations for Blue Marlin to implement as soon as possible, sharing best practice of some of our own relevant procedures around staff welfare and reiterating our Supplier Code of Conduct.’
