- Ross McCarthy pledges ‘meaningful change’ at the business after Broadcast contacts him with allegations from 10 individuals
- MTV pauses projects with Gobstopper following allegations
Ten former Gobstopper TV staff and freelancers have told Broadcast they experienced or witnessed bullying while working for the Just Tattoo of Us producer.
The individuals, who worked for the now-Manchester-based indie between 2017 and 2020, allege that chief executive and founder Ross McCarthy created a highly toxic working environment.
They laid out numerous examples of bullying and intimidation and allege that McCarthy:
- Regularly verbally abused staff in front of others and privately. One former employee said he was screamed at for sitting in the wrong chair, and was introduced to a team he would be managing as a “cunt”
- Appeared to threaten physical violence, telling one staff member they were lucky he did not “rip your fucking head off”
- Regularly used abusive and inappropriate language and was heard describing a colleague to someone as a “retard”
- Created a culture in which staff felt compelled to work excessively long hours
- Prompted multiple freelancers to terminate their contracts early as a result of his behaviour
The majority of the allegations against McCarthy relate to incidents said to have taken place during the filming of MTV reality show Just Tattoo of Us, which ran for four series between 2017 and 2019, and other Gobstopper shows including recent MTV prank show Revenge Prank, which was produced in the US.
An MTV Entertainment spokeswoman said: “We take these allegations seriously and have put our projects with Gobstopper on pause until we gather more information.”
The individuals who made the allegations are known to Broadcast but do not wish to be named for fear of repercussion, or that they will struggle to get work in the future.
Many said they wanted to speak up due to the industry’s current focus on overcoming longstanding issues with bullying. Some were full-time staff at Gobstopper TV while others held a variety of senior production roles on short-term contracts.
Many terminated these contracts early due to the toxic working culture and Broadcast has seen a number of these resignation letters.
Yesterday (24 June), McCarthy issued a statement to Broadcast that said: “We strongly refute the version of events described in these allegations, but are saddened to hear how working at Gobstopper and with me personally has made some people feel.
“We fully recognise the need to create a more enjoyable and creatively rewarding working environment for our talented teams and we are already actioning a plan for the business to bring about further meaningful changes.
“We have heard the message loud and clear and we are, and I am, sorry for any unintentional hurt caused.”
McCarthy’s comment came after Broadcast presented him with the details of allegations and complaints about his conduct by the 10 former staff.
“The epitome of a toxic workplace”
The first of the individuals making the allegations said he “never felt so completely pressured, bullied and intimidated by anyone”.
He said he regularly “called [his] partner in floods of tears” due to multiple alleged incidents of verbal abuse and intimidation by McCarthy.
The second source said: “The hold Ross had over me was insane. I cried regularly because I felt like I’d let him down. People on location would say ‘I cannot believe he just talked to you like that’, but it was a weird relationship.”
The third individual described Gobstopper TV as the “epitome of a toxic workplace”.
This person said that, after experiencing verbal abuse by McCarthy, he found the working environment untenable and terminated his contract early. Broadcast has seen his resignation letter.
Nearly all of those who spoke to Broadcast said that they were regularly in tears or saw others crying on set, and a number referred to themselves as the ‘Gobstopper Survivors Club’.
Several said their confidence was knocked by the experience and took time out of the industry as a result.
“It took a while for my self-confidence and self-esteem to build back up,” said the second individual.
This person, along with others, described particularly excessive working hours that left them exhausted and added to the toxicity of the environment.
She said: “Ross berated people so much, made them feel really small and then the next minute he would tell them how proud of them he was. I felt like I didn’t want to be a failure and could manage him, but really he was managing me the whole time.”
The fourth individual, who worked on Revenge Prank, alleges that after one recording, McCarthy told him: “You’re lucky I didn’t rip your fucking head off.”
“People on the production often talked about how unhappy they were and how inappropriate the environment was,” this individual said. “I’ve never felt so depressed in my life.”
The fifth individual, who also worked on Revenge Prank, said she regularly heard McCarthy “shouting and screaming on set”.
“The whole experience shook me so much and it has taken me a while to feel normal again and be confident in my abilities,” said this individual.
The sixth said she hid the fact she was pregnant due to fear of repercussions.
“I remember pretending to drink a glass of champagne on a Friday,” she recalled. “I was petrified.”
Walking on eggshells
Many of the 10 individuals described feeling like they were walking on eggshells, unsure of how McCarthy would behave on any given day.
The seventh individual said: “People were on a knife edge – they were terrified of the tiniest slip-up because it would become a witch hunt and he [Ross McCarthy] would come down on you like a tonne of bricks.”
She described being screamed at and witnessing McCarthy screaming at others, too.
The eighth individual said they were scared to leave work at a reasonable time and frequently stayed in the office past 11pm “for no reason”.
The ninth individual said the excessive hours were a major contributing factor towards the toxic working culture.
They added: “Sometimes when you speak to talent managers they say knowingly ‘oh you’ve worked at Gobstopper’ and there is this complete awareness.”
The tenth individual, who described her time at Gobstopper as a “dark period of my life”, hopes speaking out will cause McCarthy to improve his working practices.
“I want his working practices to be monitored so there is some sort of safeguard for people who previously felt they couldn’t speak out,” added this person.
McCarthy founded Gobstopper TV in London in 2015 and the company relocated to Manchester in late 2018. It has a New York base and offshoots in Belfast (Mermaid Studios) and Manchester (Flying Saucer).
McCarthy has also issued a lengthy statement to current Gobstopper staff (see box, below) and said the company will hire a consultant to independently assess how it can improve its of working culture.
ROSS McCARTHY’s MESSAGE TO STAFF, IN FULL
Dear colleagues,
Tomorrow you will read an article about Gobstopper in Broadcast, alleging a toxic work culture at the company and accusations of bullying against me personally.
We have contacted Broadcast via our lawyers to strongly refute the details of these claims and are working through the proper channels to dispute what has been written in the firmest possible terms.
That being said, we must acknowledge like the rest of the industry, that there is a need to do better as a business in terms of working conditions for all of our talented teams.
Making television is often far too tough, which I know we have all felt even more keenly during the pandemic, with the relentlessness of zooms and calls and remote working from our kitchens and bedrooms adding to old pressures.
Alongside ever tighter programme budgets and the new but necessary burden of covid protocols that have often been making the shooting days even longer and with an ever more intense (but important) focus on contributor welfare creating more of a challenge for all of our workloads on every single production – it is no surprise that many in the industry have reached a breaking point.
Something has to change and we actively want to listen to any and all ideas from you all of what we can do better as employers and as partners. We have never been more eager or willing to listen.
In the coming days, weeks and months ahead we will look long and hard at how to create a better, happier, less pressured culture at the company that makes you want to continue working alongside us. Hopefully we will do this in tandem with a return (at least part time) to the office once guidance allows. It’s been so long since we’ve seen many of you in person, some of you we have never even met!
We fully acknowledge that we all deserve a better work/life balance than any of us are currently getting. As a company, we’ve got to find ways of alleviating the pressures of work for you, not adding to them and that starts with a focus on company culture, which we are going to prioritise more than we ever have to date.
We will try our absolute best to create more time for us to come together as a team, more time to be social and creative and most importantly create a less pressurised working environment where we can all be the best versions of ourselves. Making tv is tough, but it shouldn’t feel as tough as it often has through the last 18 months and on some of the hardest, most ambitious shows we have ever produced. It must be enjoyable and creatively rewarding for everyone involved and we’re going to be laser focused on how we implement that for you.
Though we dispute the details of the published claims, I was shocked by many of the things that were written about us and about me. I am conscious of making sure I learn from this experience and do better by you all going forward.
This company and the people working for it mean everything to me. Having started my working life as a binman and a roofer (I wasn’t very good at either) it is a privilege to be tasked with making television for our clients and the audience at home. But it must be made in the right way.
To this end we are also going to hire a consultant to independently assess what we can do better in terms of working culture and they will soon share with us their ideas on what we can improve. The pandemic has been a time for reflection and change. Best practices are rightly evolving and we will work harder to keep up with and get ahead of the times we are now in. And do so quickly.
In the meantime, please feel welcome to share with me or any other member of the senior team cc’d here any and all feedback you’re willing to on where else you think we can improve as a business. Today has been a shock for us but we want to turn it into something positive for everyone.
We can’t make programmes without you all. We really can’t. Without your support and trust, making shows just isn’t possible. We will do our very best to re-earn that trust again and again over the coming months and years ahead, it is imperative we do so or else we do not deserve to prosper as a business.
Yours sincerely,
Ross
THE SHOWS IN QUESTION
Gobstopper TV specialises in youth-skewing shows that often rely on members of the public as key participants or contestants. Broadcast has spoken to staff who worked on:
Just Tattoo of Us
MTV reality show ran for four series between 2017 and 2019 and followed pairs of friends, family members or couples as they design tattoos for their partner. The partner doesn’t know the tattoo they’re getting until the big reveal, at which point they share feedback.
Revenge Prank
The show aired one pilot and for one full series. The format involves the hosts helping victims of viral internet pranks exact revenge on the people who tricked them.
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