{"id":157469,"date":"2025-06-04T12:26:08","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T12:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/157469\/"},"modified":"2025-06-04T12:26:08","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T12:26:08","slug":"channel-4-denies-using-ndas-to-silence-wrongdoing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/157469\/","title":{"rendered":"Channel 4 Denies Using NDAs To Silence Wrongdoing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tEXCLUSIVE<\/strong>: Channel 4<\/a> once described itself as the \u201csponsor and defender of free speech<\/a>,\u201d but a cache of documents seen by Deadline reveals it is restricting what aggrieved former staffers can say about the company.<\/p>\n

\n\tDeadline has analyzed 61 settlement deals signed by former staff members who exited Channel 4 amid an employment dispute between 2017 and 2021. Channel 4 paid out nearly \u00a35M ($6.7M) to these ex-employees to prevent complaints escalating, but in doing so, stipulated that they do not discuss matters relating to the company.<\/p>\n

\n\tAll but two of the 61 settlement deals contained confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses that transparency campaigners consider to be non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). This is despite Channel 4 repeatedly saying that it never uses NDAs to cover up wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

\n\tDetails about the settlement deals, disclosed by Channel 4 under Freedom of Information laws, come as UK lawmakers have raised concerns about the entertainment industry\u2019s use of NDAs amid the drafting of a new Employment Rights Bill.<\/p>\n

\n\tZelda Perkins<\/a>, the former assistant to Harvey Weinstein<\/a>, who has become a vocal critic of NDAs after breaking her own agreement during the #MeToo movement, accused Channel 4 of \u201cplaying legal God\u201d in what it allows former employees to express about the broadcaster, which screens shows including The Great British Bake Off<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tShe told Deadline that non-disclosure agreements do not come with the letters \u201cNDA\u201d signposted at the top of a document. Perkins noted they can be used legitimately to protect commercially sensitive information or client confidentiality, but are open to abuse when used to restrict disclosures around employment issues.<\/p>\n

\n\tA former Channel 4 staffer, who signed a settlement deal after making a misconduct complaint, told Deadline that their agreement was an NDA \u201cin all but name.\u201d Speaking on the condition of anonymity, they said Channel 4\u2019s brand is \u201ccompletely at odds\u201d with the agreements and that fearful employees are \u201cone truthful comment away from being silenced.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tTwenty-four of the 61 Channel 4 settlement agreements reference \u201cdiscrimination\u201d as being among the claims that led to the deals being signed. One of the documents referenced \u201cpregnancy\u201d discrimination after an employee returned from maternity leave. Channel 4\u2019s position is that it used standardized language in agreements, which does not necessarily indicate that a discrimination issue had been settled in all cases.<\/p>\n

\n\tA common confidentiality clause contained in the Channel 4 settlements forbids former employees from making \u201cany statement or comment concerning the terms of this agreement, the termination of your employment or any other matter concerning the company.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tChannel 4\u2019s agreements go further in stipulating that former employees must not publish or communicate \u201cany derogatory or defamatory\u201d statements about the network or its workforce, even if unrelated to their grievance. Perkins argued that these broad non-disparagement clauses can have the same effect as an NDA.<\/p>\n

\n\tC4 Denies Using NDAs<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tChannel 4 has consistently denied that its settlement agreements are tantamount to NDAs, arguing that its confidentiality clauses \u201cnever prevent individuals from raising issues of serious wrongdoing.\u201d In emails seen by Deadline, CEO Alex Mahon has said Channel 4 \u201cdoes not use and has not used NDAs\u201d to \u201ccover up wrongdoing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tPerkins said this was Channel 4 simply \u201cadhering to the law\u201d in Britain, which protects individuals who make disclosures in the public interest, such as reporting a potential criminal offence. In meetings with Mahon, Perkins has called on Channel 4 to ditch the clauses and sign her Can\u2019t Buy My Silence Pledge<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tDeadline can reveal that Channel 4 quietly made changes to its settlement agreements in 2022, stripping back blanket confidentiality clauses so they only reference specific matters, such as details of payoffs.\u00a0It has signed four settlement agreements since 2021, paying out a combined \u00a3383,261 to ex-employees.<\/p>\n

\n\tChannel 4 continues to stand by non-disparagement clauses. The company\u2019s position is that these clauses protect people at all levels and are sometimes requested by departing employees who do not wish to be disparaged by former colleagues.<\/p>\n

\n\tChannel 4\u2019s commitment to the clauses puts it out of step with other industry players. The BBC removed so-called gagging orders from contracts in 2013, including non-disparagement clauses and those that stop individuals from discussing a settlement agreement or the circumstances of their departure.<\/p>\n

\n\tA Channel 4 spokesperson said: \u201cAs a matter of course, Channel 4 does not use non-disclosure agreements, except in relation to commercial matters only and never in respect to staff. Our standard settlement agreements have always had a confidentiality clause in them, but we have always been clear that this does not and should never prevent individuals from raising issues of serious wrongdoing that require investigation. We would reiterate that again.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cOur CEO Alex Mahon has had several constructive meetings with Zelda Perkins and we support her work and the ambition to ensure all employees can speak freely and openly. In 2022, following very useful discussions with Zelda, we made changes to our template settlement agreement \u2013 which was also previously used to document some Channel 4 redundancies \u2013 to move away from comprehensive confidentiality provisions to narrowly defined clauses designed to protect legitimate interests for both parties to the agreements. We took the view that these confidentiality provisions are limited to cover things we think are justified, such as details of payment terms or where we have a duty of care to other employees.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe cache of settlement agreements was obtained by Ed Ryland, a producer who has worked on shows including Have I Got News For You. Ryland has been campaigning for transparency and accountability from Channel 4 since he made a complaint via its Speak Up facility in 2021<\/a> after working on unscripted series Joe Lycett\u2019s Got Your Back.<\/p>\n

\n\tRyland accused Channel 4 of making \u201cmisleading statements\u201d about its use of NDAs. He told Deadline: \u201cWe largely don\u2019t know what these NDAs are hiding. My attempts to establish the nature of the allegations they cover through further Freedom of Information requests have faced extremely strong legal resistance and so far have been unsuccessful. Channel 4 won\u2019t even confirm or deny whether any of these agreements relate to allegations of sexual misconduct. What are they trying to hide?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tChannel 4\u2019s spokesperson said: \u201cChannel 4 has a zero-tolerance approach to bullying and harassment, and we actively encourage reporting of unacceptable behaviour. We are taking a leading role in challenging unacceptable behaviour in our industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tChannel 4 has declined to sign Perkins\u2019 Can\u2019t Buy My Silence Pledge, but said it supports the ambition behind the statement. The broadcaster\u2019s position is that signing the pledge could prevent it from offering settlement agreements, even when they are requested by a departing employee.<\/p>\n

\n\tNDAs are in the spotlight in the UK. ITN, which produces Channel 4 News, has been entangled in the debate after being accused by lawmakers of using NDAs to cover up workplace misconduct. ITN said it now longer uses confidentiality clauses in settlement agreements that \u201cprevent anyone from talking freely about their experiences.\u201d MPs are also calling on the government to ban NDAs after criticizing their misuse in the music industry. <\/p>\n

\n\tKienda Hoji, who sits on the board of the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority, told BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday that settlement agreements do not need to contain clauses that mean people are \u201csilenced for life.\u201d He added: \u201cThis idea that somehow an NDA is inextricably linked to a settlement is a misnomer.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: Channel 4 once described itself as the \u201csponsor and defender of free speech,\u201d but a cache of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":157470,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3937],"tags":[411,77,23939,19651,382,16,15,66765],"class_list":{"0":"post-157469","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-channel-4","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-harvey-weinstein","11":"tag-the-great-british-bake-off","12":"tag-tv","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-zelda-perkins"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114625090939454464","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157469\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}