Ryan Tubridy: Ireland’s greatest TV star says he has been ‘cancelled’ over RTE secret cost row

Ireland’s greatest TV star Ryan Tubridy says he has been “cancelled” over a secret cost scandal on the public broadcaster RTE.

The 50-year-old presenter stated that his title had been “sullied” by claims RTE had understated his earnings in public paperwork by €345,000 (£295,000) between 2017 and 2022.

His agent additionally claimed that the star had “undeservedly” been made the “poster boy” for the scandal.

The claims sparked a backlash in opposition to the presenter – already RTE’s highest-paid star with a wage of €440,000 (£375,500) in 2021 – as a result of they got here at a time at which the cash-strapped broadcaster was making cuts elsewhere.

They additionally sparked a spending evaluate on the broadcaster, which revealed so-called “barter” accounts utilized by prime executives for lavish bills, together with tickets to look at the Ireland rugby workforce and to a Champions League ultimate.

At a parliamentary committee in Dublin on Tuesday, Mr Tubridy, who till May had a morning radio slot and offered the world’s longest-running TV chat present, The Late Late Show, addressed the backlash.

“This is my first rodeo being in the public eye [like this],” he instructed the Public Accounts Committee.

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“I’ve by no means seen something prefer it. I do not know if any of you have been cancelled earlier than however let me let you know, you do not need to be there.

“My name has been desperately sullied, I think my reputation has been sullied.

“I’m deeply upset. I’m damage. It’s onerous to depart the home should you actually need me to be sincere about it.”

His agent, Noel Kelly, also addressed the committee, and said Mr Tubridy had been the victim of “horrendous reporting”.

“We weren’t invited [to the committee], we requested [to come],” he said.

“And we noticed during the last three weeks, I’ve by no means seen such horrendous, horrendous reporting.

“And why? Suddenly the most trusted man in Ireland, Ryan Tubridy, it was like ‘throw him under a bus’. Why?”

He added: “Ryan and I have attracted a horrendous amount of criticism and abuse in the past few weeks because he is such a high-profile and successful figure in Ireland, and he has been made the poster boy for this scandal. That is undeserved.”

‘Maximum transparency’

Mr Kelly additionally addressed the overpayment claims and instructed the committee that he was performing beneath instruction from RTE, “at all times”.

Ahead of the committee, the previous chat present host launched a press release to say he aimed to convey “maximum transparency” to each hearings and deal with “misinformation” that he stated has been circulating.

He addressed what he referred to as “seven material untruths” concerning the controversy on the committee, and claimed that RTE’s figures and statements had created a “fog of confusion”.

This included him denying assertions he had not taken a pay lower, and had taken a 20% pay lower between 2020-2025, and that he had been secretly overpaid – insisting as an alternative that RTE had under-declared his payment quantities.

Part of the cost row includes a tripartite deal between Mr Tubridy, RTE and the then-sponsor of The Late Late Show, Renault Ireland.

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RTE – for causes but to be decided – agreed to underwrite the deal, so when the carmaker determined to not renew the association after one yr, the station paid Tubridy the remaining €150,000 (£128,000).

It was routed by way of a London-based RTE barter account.

‘Incorrect model of occasions’

Meanwhile, Mr Tubridy instructed the committee on Tuesday that though he was entitled to a €120,000 (£102,000) loyalty or exit cost throughout that interval, he had successfully “foregone” it.

“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,” he stated.

His agent, Mr Kelly, instructed the committee that RTE has tried to “distance itself” from its choice to underwrite the tripartite deal, and that this was “a mess of RTE’s making”.

He referred to a letter from former RTE chief monetary officer Breda O’Keeffe, dated February 2020, which stated: “We can provide you with a side letter to underwrite this fee for the duration of the contract (with Renault).”

He stated the choice to underwrite the contract “was known widely within the executive board of RTE”.

Mr Tubridy has not offered his weekday morning radio programme because the points at RTE got here to gentle on 22 June, although he instructed the committee he hoped to return.

In response, RTE rejected the declare that it gave an “incorrect version of events” over an settlement to underwrite funds to Mr Tubridy.

It stated in a press release: “RTE’s position is as per previous statements: That, until the verbal commitment given by the former director-general during the call on 7 May, 2020, it had not agreed to underwrite the 75,000 euro payment per contract year.”