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RYAN TUBRIDY WILL tell politicians this morning that the RTÉ payments scandal is his “darkest hour professionally and personally” and will also claim there are “seven untruths” about him in relation to the controversy.
The presenter and his agent Noel Kelly will face questions from two Oireachtas committees today over RTÉ’s failure to disclose €345,000 worth of payments to him.
The much-anticipated hearings come after almost three weeks of revelations at the public service broadcaster, which began after it emerged that RTÉ paid Tubridy over €345,000 more than it officially declared between 2017 and 2022.
The former Late Late Show host has been off air since the controversy began, and has only issued two statements – both in the opening days of the scandal in late June.
This morning’s hearing of the Public Accounts Committee is the first time that TDs and the wider public will have heard from Tubridy in weeks, and his opening remarks will address what he describes as “seven material untruths” about the payments debacle.
“Given the events of the last three weeks, there is a lot that I wish and need to say, and I hope you will bear with me,” he will tell politicians this morning.
“My aim is to help correct and clarify some very serious matters and I will be relying on my agent Noel Kelly to go through the figures and provide greater detail.
“I want everybody here today to understand that the figures and statements presented by RTÉ over the last few weeks in relation to my remuneration have created a fog of confusion over what I was paid and when I was paid, what I knew and when I knew.”
Before outlining the various “untruths” about him, Tubridy will take aim at his employer and claim that “full transparency and disclosure” from the national broadcaster in recent weeks would have prevented the confusion about his own role in the controversy.
Tubridy will say the only thing he is before the committee to do is to “set the record straight” and call out “seven material untruths” about his role in the controversy.
He will claim that the first “untruth” about him is that he did not take a pay cut from RTÉ in 2020 – and that he actually took a 20% cut in his contract from 2020 to 2025, at a cost of €525,000 to him personally.
The presenter will defend his additional work outside RTÉ, after criticism of a secret commercial payment worth €75,000 that he received from Renault to present three live Late Late Show events for the car manufacturer in 2020.
He will suggest that this extra payment – which was underwritten and guaranteed by RTÉ, before being paid to him again in 2021 and 2022 after Renault pulled out of the arrangement – did not feature as part of this pay cut.
“Under the terms of my contract I am allowed to do additional work outside of RTÉ,” he will say.
“I stress that there is nothing morally, ethically or legally wrong with me or any independent contractor doing additional work for another client outside of RTÉ.”
The “second untruth” that Tubridy will address will be the suggestion that his decision to retire from the Late Late Show in March was prompted by the controversy.
There has been speculation around the fact that the overpayments issue at RTÉ was being examined by auditors time at the same time Tubridy made his announcement.
However, the presenter will say that he made his initial decision to step down from the show almost a year ago.
“I had left a lot on the studio floor after Covid. I was burnt out and exhausted – like so many people in the country,” he will say.
“I turned it over in my mind over a few months, but by the time I got to January, I was absolutely certain of my decision. I was convinced that it was time to go.
“There is zero connection between my departure and this very raw situation of recent weeks.”
Tubridy will further outline that he informed RTÉ management of his decision on 13 March, but that he did not become aware that the national broadcaster had appointed external auditors Grant Thornton to review its finances until May.
“Even then, I had no inkling of the bombshell which was to come when RTÉ released their statement on 22 June,” he will add.
Tubridy will also address what he says is a “third untruth” that he received secret overpayments from the national broadcaster, and will claim that he was paid in accordance with his contract.
He will once again take aim at his employer, when he will claim that he challenged RTÉ on its “under-declarations” about his pay in 2020 and also that RTÉ overstated what it paid him in 2020 and 2021.
“This has caused justifiable anger among my colleagues. I understand their anger,” he will say.
“The upshot of RTÉ’s inaccurate declarations is an impression that I have been less than honest. This is not the case.”
Tubridy will also claim that there is a linked “fourth untruth” that he was aware that RTÉ were trying to conceal payments to him.
“This is not true. I was not aware that RTÉ were concealing payments to me,” he will say.
“RTÉ acknowledge this in their statement of 27 June 2023 when they stated that Grant Thornton had made no findings against me.”
He will likewise claim that there is a similar “fifth untruth” that he tried to conceal a “secret arrangement” with Renault.
The presenter will once again outline that the payments were part of a separate commercial arrangement with the car manufacturer, “the basis of which was that I would make public appearances and perform roadshows for them”.
“The work that I have done for Renault is all over social media. The suggestion that this was secret just makes no sense,” he will add.
In addition, Tubridy will also say that RTÉ’s decision to underwrite the deal was not a secret either, because it featured as part of his contract negotiations.
He will say this was confirmed in a subsequent email which was copied to the broadcaster’s executive board, its solicitor and then-Director General Dee Forbes.
“Everyone in RTE who needed to know knew [...] Far from being secret, it was well known,” the presenter will tell the committee.
In what he will claim is the seventh and final “untruth”, Tubridy will seek to address claims that he did not ask RTÉ why the national broadcaster undeclared his earnings from 2017 to 2019 when it released figures about his salary in 2021.
“This is a question I did not ask at that time, and one I should have asked. I fully accept that,” his statement will say.
However, Tubridy will seek to explain this via a €120,000 loyalty payment that he received upon the expiry of his previous contract, which lasted from 2015 to 2020.
He will claim that he didn’t invoice for this bonus, and that he did not receive it.
“In my simple view, I had foregone a €120,000 payment – not taken it,” Tubridy will say.
“But because of how RTÉ reported that decision in their accounts, the narrative of the last three weeks has been that not only did I take this payment, but that I somehow contrived to hide it.
“I reiterate; I actually waived my entitlement to this payment, and I didn’t receive one cent of it. I hid nothing. I had nothing to hide.”
Tubridy will further tell committee members that his agent Noel Kelly told RTÉ in 2020 that the pair thought the broadcaster’s accounting for his payments from 2017 to 2019 was incorrect.
“I would like to add that my company earnings fully reflect what I earned in these and all subsequent years,” he will say.
The presenter will also express his disappointment at the way in which RTÉ’s initial statement on the scandal at the end of June linked his name “to this whole fiasco”, and he will claim he was not consulted despite being mentioned 15 times in that statement.
He says he has become the “face of a national scandal, accused of being complicit, deceitful and dishonest” as a result of that statement, issued on 22 June.
“I take full responsibility for not asking more questions back on 20 January, 2021 when the figures for 2017, 2018 and 2019 were released,” he will say.
“I take responsibility for that. This has been my darkest hour both professionally and personally. I know the same is true for my agent and friend, Noel Kelly and his family.”
Tubridy will also express “respect and admiration” for “decent hardworking people in RTÉ” and apologise for the difficulty caused to those who have suffered because of the “dripping of new revelations”.
“In closing, I would like to thank the many people from across the country who have taken time to stop me on the street or send me cards or messages of support these past few weeks,” he will say.
“I have always found the Irish people to be very fair, and I am hopeful that they will see from my statement and my appearance here today that I am determined to inform them of the truth and to demonstrate that I have nothing to hide.”
“I am also hopeful that I will soon get back on air to do the job I love.”
You can read Tubridy’s statement in full here:
https://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2023/07/r2029-ii-pac33-a-r-tubridy-opening-statement.pdf
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It’s a disgrace.
@Seamus Gallen: Norway and Iceland are also not in IWC.
@Seamus Gallen: we should start Harpooin the People involved in the murder of these great Wales.
If Japan does this, the rest of the World should boycott every Japanese product.
@Brendan: Norway and Iceland do not abide (opting out) by the IWC rules around commercial whaling, so are we boycotting them too?
It makes no sense. Japan has been propping up the whale industry by $400m a year in subsidies in recent years. Nobody eats whale meat. They would be better off turning to whale tourism.
@Sean: Thanks for the very interesting article.
@Sean: was the industry hurt by the IWC rules though?
I’m just speculating, but if the caps are removed would it increase supply, meaning prices of whale meat goes down and thus more people can afford it leading to greater consumption and no need for Government subsidies.
@Hellenize Dublin: I really hope they don’t end up fishing for €400m worth of Whale meat. There aren’t that many of them left.
Sounds like one of those areas that has a strong lobby group that puts pressure on the government but doesn’t have a whole lot of actual support across a society – that’s my guess why they are restricting the hunting to their territorial zone. Widespread mass whale hunting would probably be unjustifiable for the population in general. Still rubbish though – some traditions should be let die.
@John McSweeney: it’s a criminal organisation that supports the trade. The meat is useless as its toxic. Whales are an essential species in all our oceans. For the Japanese to unilaterally take s decision like this is a flagrant disregard of international law and there should be consequences. #boycottjapan.
@Pat O’Brien: Norway and Iceland are not abiding members of the IWC either, are we boycotting them too?
I do believe in Whale conservation, so to address the original commentators point – the action of restricting lobbying groups should be the goal of most democracies. I’d like to see an outright ban on lobbying in Ireland or for it to be done in a public setting (town hall meeting format for instance).
@Hellenize Dublin: the town hall idea is a very good one.
It’s our culture boss!!!
@Doz: Just because something was ok years ago doest not mean its ok now the ocean have enough problem as it is without this too
@ross guilfoyle: faux outrage
@Doz: Brilliant lol!
600 under the guise of scientific research. How many from open hunting? Dreadful practice.
Think twice about buying another Toyota
If anyone thinks that the Japanese will limit Whale hunting to Japanese territorial waters then they believe in the fairies too!
The Japanese will hunt whales across any open seas over 1000’s of KM. They will not restrict themselves during a hunt at all!
They won’t be happy until Whales are extinct!
Anyone who gets in there way will bfind there boats rammed by the Japanese whaling fleet who are almost military in there organization.
Needs to be nipped in the bud
Why not start with the Rugby World Cup and the Olympics (and I’m a rugby fan).
Sounds like the whaling industry has a strong lobby group that puts pressure on the government but doesn’t actually have much support across the general Japanese society (perhaps most people are opposed or indifferent to it) – hence why they are self- restricting their hunting zones. Hopefully it’s one of those things where the market will eventually kill it as people decide not to eat it. A lot of whales will be hunted in the interim though which is BS – some traditions should be forced to die out.
Toyota, Nissan , Sony three brands to boycott. If you can think of anymore please add them. This is a despicable.
D!ckhe@ds
If only Whales had nuclear weapons!
The whalewars lads will be busy again.
@All A Big JOKE: They won’t be chasing them around Japanese waters
Often it feels like our government sells conservation and saving the planet as an Irish responsibility. Meanwhile the rest of the planet doesn’t give a hoot. Anything Ireland does isn’t going to make a difference other than restricting and taxing us into oblivion while other countries carry on regardless.
And when there’s nothing to kill,will we again turn on ourselves…
Some Japanese see it as part of their culture, and place great emphasis on this pathetic excuse when challenged about the ethics of the practice.
So these magnificent creatures will continue to be hunted down by human predators even as their numbers dwindle in the oceans of the world.
It’s about time culture was rejected internationally as an excuse to engage in the tormenting or senseless killing of animals.
Bull fighting continues in Spain and a few other countries under the same pretext.
The deliberate torturing to death of an animal is deemed a “heritage gem” and endorsed by successive Spanish governments despite all the evidence of extreme cruelty and suffering.
Hare coursing clubs in Ireland also claim their fun and games at the expense of an endangered mammal must be allowed because it’s part of a cultural asset without which Ireland would a mere shadow of itself.
Burning people alive as sacrifices and throwing virgins into volcanoes in homage to assorted gods and goddesses were once deemed cultural activities too. We have dispensed with these traditions. We should also consign attacks on endangered species and deliberate cruelty to animals masquerading as “culture” to the dustbin of history.
Trump hates sharks and is about to introduce seismic blasting in the ocean, producing noise the sound of a rocket launcher that will torture and kill many marine species, Humans kill over 100 million sharks a year – at that rate they will disappear and become extinct in the very near future. Boycott Japan for what they are going to do.
@GO GREEN: Seismic blasting in Arctic already happening – every 10 seconds, every hour every day. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK4O8FLv8dY&feature=youtu.be
They should grow whale meat at this stage… I’m joining Sea Shepherd :P
Not all cultural persuits are worth keeping, head-hunting and female genital mutilation spring to mind as well as whale-hunting.
No! No! No! It’s has got to be stopped!!!!!
Absolutely disgusting!! Killing these majestic animals for human commercial use is totally wrong and unethical!! The Japanese in general should feel so ashamed by this activity.
Whale meat is so laced with heavy metals that it’s virtually toxic. This is purely being forced by elitists whitin Japan as the average Joe has never even tasted it. At least there’s a likelyhood that the big knobs pushing for this poison themselves through consumption.
Boycott Japanese goods like their cars for starters? But aren’t the whales full of Fukushima cancer causing radiation as is much of the Pacific ocean. So the Japanese wants to get radioactive plutonium into their diet now? Sounds like those in the government there are doing a sideline in that toxic mammal meat now?
Any thing they produce and sell should shunned by the world
Their tourism sector should be boycotted
Money’s talks, wake up call needed, time to stop districting every thing around us
have your say