Ten high-profile female stars 'to sue BBC' over gender pay row

Ten high-profile female stars are reportedly considering legal action over the gender pay gap revealed in this week’s publication of the corporation’s pay list.

The BBC’s top earners were revealed on Wednesday, with the absence of any women in the top seven and the vast disparity in pay between the likes of Chris Evans and female stars like Emily Maitlis causing widespread consternation.

The BBC declined to comment for this story, but director general Lord Hall has pledged to close the gender pay gap by 2020 and also promised to improve diversity at the corporation after it emerged only 10 of the 96 stars listed this week were non-white.

Newsnight presenter Maitlis is reportedly among the group of household names from radio and TV planning to approach the corporation and demand they be paid equally to men who perform the same jobs.

According to The Telegraph, female presenters have been contacting each other over the past few days to discuss their options and are planning to approach management together to demand their pay be brought into line with their male counterparts.

Woman’s Hour host Jane Garvey, who is reportedly leading the group, told The Telegraph: “This is the sisterhood in full flow. I’ve never been so busy on the phone.”

Maitlis, meanwhile, is said to be considering quitting the BBC unless she gets a significant pay rise. Maitlis didn’t appear on the list of stars who earn more than £150,000, while her male colleague Evan Davis did.

Her agent described the situation as “beyond madness and being dealt with”.

At a TechUK conference on Wednesday Maitlis tellingly mocked the pay gap, joking “You’re an industry doing so well, soon you’ll be able to afford a BBC man.”