BBC Sports Presenter Jermaine Jenas sacked

I'm sure it's always been around. When I was at college we always heard on the grape vine which lecturers to avoid and who it was safe to have a lift home with.

When I started work at the end of the 60s our office included a middle aged man who was very fond of pretty young girls in mini skirts. He was a dear and just liked an occasional hug. Eventually we had a new secretary who was very young and pretty and she fell for him straight away. They were soon married and as far as I know lived happily ever after. I'm sure it would be considered unacceptable today.

His attitude has changed today, yesterday he was consulting his lawyers.

He obviously has and was told he was told “You are a fool, because you sent salacious messages to work colleague's, they are on record in black and white you can’t defend them.”
“You are not in a nightclub were the women are half drunk and you can say what you like, apologize now and limit the damage”.

That advice probably cost him £5k.

Oh dear......his poor wife

I feel really sorry for his wife and children and anyone who thought they knew him as a friend. He's been a complete prat and it will cost him dearly. Having said that I do hope there is a way back for him. Unless he's done anything involving children or done anything illegal of course. He's not a Rolf Harris or Jimmy Savile who the BBC protected for decades.

Have there always been men like this? Yes of course, and some men will always behave this way. It's being in a position of authority that makes them think they are more important/clever/attractive/entitled than they are. They brush it off as a bit of harmless flirting or a joke and in the past they would have got away with it.

Not defending him but I think it works both ways. No-one needs to reply to unwanted texts but yes he shouldn’t have started the thread in the first place.
Sadly men have always been attracted to pretty young women. In my first office job (over 50 years ago!) I was very naive so was amazed how one pretty young woman got away with murder by flirting with the older boss!

A real idiot. BBC had no option but to sack him.
Just wish the media would give it a rest. He has four children.

One of my favourite TV presents, happily married was sending inappropriate texts, the marriage survived and so did has career.
I dont know the content of these messages and do not want to and it seems remarkably silly as its all in black and white and on record and needs to be called out, it shouldn't happen. He has to ask himself why he felt the need to do that and make amebds.
Sixty years ago when i was working in an office it was rare for an attractive young women not to have to dodge a potential pest, you became adept at spotting and avoiding..

he admitted to 'frantically' sending inappropriate messages to a colleague over a 24-hour period but insisted he did 'nothing illegal'. Although he was speaking to 'two consenting adults, he has apologised to the women - ...............

one was not consenting as she complained and showed bosses who sacked him!

Well we don’t know what was said in the emails to adult (women presumably) but could it have been that bad or is this just a complete knee jerk reaction after the Huw Edwards Philip Schofield debacle and therefore something that should have been handled by the wife in private
How do you know the BBC were right to sack him escaped when we ve no idea what was said or done
I don’t watch the show as the female presenter irritates me and I thought he was pretty irritating too BUT it doesn’t appear anything physical happened. All the reports speak of texts that appear to have been answered???
If it was smutty texts he should have been reprimanded in private and that didn’t happen so was it more !!!! To sack him on the spot seems harsh for naughty texts

He was the favourite to replace Gary Lineker, the highest paid presenter at the BBC, on Match of the Day.
He has changed his tune from being annoyed and consulting his lawyers to admitting his guilt. He claims he has done nothing illegal and is not a sex pest but these days, inappropriate texts to women will not go unreported. He says the women were consenting, well clearly the one who reported him wasn't. His 'apology' had a lot of but's in it as if these 2 women have been equally guilty for his present situation. His agent has dropped him showing a 'page not found' for Jenas's details. As usual you feel sorry for his wife.

allsorts my first experience of sex pests was when I worked in an hotel and had two encounters with ‘old’ workmen who tried to physically assault me I was new and told my workmates and was told oh they’re just randy old buggers take no notice just keep out their way Now they were sacking offences probably police offences but I just kept my head down and scurried away if I saw them coming
That doesn’t make this right but it doesn’t sound a physical event I hope he can work it out with his wife and a lot lot less money to play with Silly man

An idiot, but it’s not a big story in the scheme of things. I wish the media wouldn’t hound people once a decision has been made, being sacked was a just punishment, but a line should be drawn now for the sake of his family.

When I did a student holiday job in the 70's we had a boss who would have sex in his office most lunchtimes with another employee.. they were both married.. being sexually harassed was really common..

We know little other than it’s been accepted he sent texts of a sexual nature to two women. He accepted having done this, claims nothing illegal and consensual. He’s consulting lawyers. I don’t have enough information to decide if immediate sacking is an appropriate response by the bbc but presume it’s legal team’s advice supported it as a sacking offence.

These references to the sexual harassment many of us experienced in the 60’s and 70’s are occasionally referred to as though it was ok, manageable by avoidance if we were sensible and didn’t over react. It wasn’t ok then and it isn’t ok now. Why do so many men see women and girls as sexual playthings.

If I sent inappropriate texts to a colleague and they complained I would be sacked. I am not sure what 'it's not physical' has to do with things. There are all sorts of non physical things I could do at work which would result in me getting fired.

It would depend what his contract was, if he was a “employee”, unfair dismissal is an issue he could be sacked gross misconduct, but if it was just “suggestive” a reprimand would be appropriate.
If he was a “contractor” there is no protection - many presenters made themselves a “company” and pay company taxation which is much less.

In either case there would be a disreputable behavior clause

He killed the golden goose

I thought you had to have a warning first at workplaces

No Iam64 it wasn’t something that was right in our young days at all! I was comparing a nasty physical sexual act with a sexual text.
If it’s an unwelcomed text dont you bin it and block the number !!

He has been sacked because of his own stupidity.
How long is it going to take for people, particularly those in the public eye, to realise just how dangerous texting is?

David49

His attitude has changed today, yesterday he was consulting his lawyers.

He obviously has and was told he was told “You are a fool, because you sent salacious messages to work colleague's, they are on record in black and white you can’t defend them.”
“You are not in a nightclub were the women are half drunk and you can say what you like, apologize now and limit the damage”.

That advice probably cost him £5k.

You’re probably right, you and the rest of us here could’ve given him that advice gratis.

BlueBelle

Well we don’t know what was said in the emails to adult (women presumably) but could it have been that bad or is this just a complete knee jerk reaction after the Huw Edwards Philip Schofield debacle and therefore something that should have been handled by the wife in private
How do you know the BBC were right to sack him escaped when we ve no idea what was said or done
I don’t watch the show as the female presenter irritates me and I thought he was pretty irritating too BUT it doesn’t appear anything physical happened. All the reports speak of texts that appear to have been answered???
If it was smutty texts he should have been reprimanded in private and that didn’t happen so was it more !!!! To sack him on the spot seems harsh for naughty texts

I agree with you.
I thought suspension while it was investigated was the done thing?

When I started my working life in the 1960s, sex pests were endemic in the work place and you were looked on as stuffy, prudish or even frigid if you made a fuss. I even encountered a female SP when I had a holiday job in a well known, high street store.

Thank goodness there has been a culture shift over the years.
Surely JJ must have been aware that this behaviour is no longer acceptable and that sending texts set up a trail. I don't buy the "It was only words" argument having been badly scared by several obscene phone calls when I was younger. There was no caller display in those days.

It didn’t need investigating the evidence was damning, a hard penalty, yes, the BBC cannot condone this sort of behavior.
The BBC needed cleaning up, there has been much hearsay about the behavior of celebrity presenters and managers over many years.

I started work in an office when I left school at fifteen, in a company where there were a lot of men employed. Some of them were downright rude, suggestive, others were more subtle. When I eventually plucked up the courage to object I was told that they were 'just joking'. They even had a competition to decide which of the female staff were judged on various attributes. They told me I had the best figure.
The big shock came a couple of years later when the big boss himself propositioned me in his office and I had trouble escaping him.
When I look back now I wonder why I put up with it, but it was just the way of life then and I was pretty terrified of men.
Thank goodness that women today are not prepared to just put up with it.

Casdon

An idiot, but it’s not a big story in the scheme of things. I wish the media wouldn’t hound people once a decision has been made, being sacked was a just punishment, but a line should be drawn now for the sake of his family.

I completely agree.

I’m very disappointed with him, he seemed a decent guy who had it all!