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John Humphrys and Jon Sopel feature in a leaked video, recorded before Monday\u2019s Radio 4 Today program, in which they mock a woman who quit her job because the BBC reportedly paid her less than her male counterparts.<\/p>\n Carrie Gracie quit as China editor last week \u2013 a move which is apparently amusing men at the BBC. In a conversation caught before the show, Humphrys, 74, and Sopel, 58, joked at Gracie\u2019s expense.<\/p>\n \u201cGood, slight change of subject \u2013 the first question will be how much of your salary you are prepared to hand over to Carrie Gracie to keep her and then a few comments about your other colleagues, you know, like our Middle East editor and the other men who are earning too much,\u201d<\/em> said Humphrys.<\/p>\n North America Editor Sopel replies: \u201cI mean, obviously if we are talking about the scope for the greatest redistribution, I\u2019ll have to come back and say, \u2018Well, yes, Mr Humphrys, but\u2026\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Read more<\/p>\n Humphrys responds: \u201cAnd I could save you the trouble, as I could volunteer that I\u2019ve handed over already more than you f***ing earn but I\u2019m still left with more than anybody else and that seems to me to be entirely just \u2014 something like that would do it?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Sopel simply says \u201cDon\u2019t.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Humphrys continues: \u201cOh dear God. She\u2019s actually suggested that you should lose money; you know that, don\u2019t you? You\u2019ve read the thing properly, have you? And the idea is that I\u2019m not allowed to talk to her about it throughout the whole course of the program. Not a word.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Sopel then questions whether the pair should be having the conversation at all.<\/p>\n The conversation was leaked by Miriam O\u2019Reilly, 60, who won an ageism case against the Beeb for axing her from Countryfile. The BBC said the chat was an \u201cill-advised off-air conversation which the presenter regrets,\u201d<\/em> but anger is already spreading.<\/p>\n Scottish National Party (SNP) MP Angus MacNeil called for the BBC to take action. He said on Twitter: \u201cSopel and Humphries now in far worse territory than Andy Gray & Richard Keys who were fired 7 years ago this month by Sky Sports … Are Sky more than 7 years ahead of the BBC?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Humphrys, who earns \u00a3600k, was caught on hot mic asking North America editor Jon Sopel: “How much of your salary are you prepared to hand over to Carrie?”<\/p>\n BBC source says: \u201cManagement are deeply unimpressed.”<\/p>\n \u2014 Mark Di Stefano 🏻 (@MarkDiStef) January 11, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Humphrys is calling it banter. But to me it reads with the familiar exhaustion and bitterness at the notion of a woman complaining. The Today programme – full of yesterday\u2019s men.<\/p>\n
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