Yahoo News BBC denies offering female stars money to keep quiet
The BBC published the salaries of all its stars that earned over £150,000 per year earlier this week, and in doing so revealed the disparities between what their male and female employees are paid.
The outcry has been so huge that BBC director general Lord Hall went on Radio 4 and admitted there were huge issues, pledging to close the gap by 2020.
Since then, tabloid newspapers have published claims that the corporation offered female stars more money in exchange for them to stay silent on the matter.
The BBC has since responded to those reports in a statement to Digital Spy that reads: "This is complete and utter nonsense.
"It is simply untrue – we've already said we're closing the gender pay gap and going further and faster than government and other companies, and the idea we'd offer someone a pay rise on condition they don't speak out is ridiculous."
Of course, the gender pay gap isn't the only issue highlighted in the salary reports – of all the stars included, no-one from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME) background earned over £300,000 last year.
It's important to note that while the BBC definitely has a long way to go in terms of equality, even its highest-earning stars like Chris Evans get paid nowhere near the amount that Ant & Dec and Piers Morgan earn.
Meanwhile, this writer is wondering if he will ever pay off his student loan.
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