Jonathan Ross criticises BBC record on employing ethnic minorities on morning radio show

The BBC has been forced to defend its record on employing ethnic minorities after being criticised on air by one of its star presenters.

Jonathan Ross claimed on his Saturday morning Radio 2 show on 3 March that the corporation tended to employ black people as security guards or cleaners, and not on “proper shows”.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

Email(Required)

OptOut

From time to time, we will send you emails about selected products, events and services from Personnel Today and OHW+ - but you can choose to opt-out at any time. If you do not wish to receive these emails, please tick this box.

Phone

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δ

Ross – who reportedly earns £6m a year – suggested that BBC managers “haven’t got there yet” in terms of racial equality in employment.

A spokeswoman for the BBC said the corporation was committed to ensuring a “diverse workforce”, and that Ross was expressing a personal opinion.