Jamie Oliver TV firm under fire for undercover school kid footage
TV chef Jamie Oliver’s production company has reportedly been threatened with legal action after filming children in secret to expose school bullying.
Fresh One Productions was criticised for hiding a camera in the backpack of a girl who claimed she was being bullied during her tenure at Corpus Christi high school in Cardiff.
Filming in the school without the permission of staff or pupils drew the ire of the school’s head teacher Angela Thomas. She issued the following statement: “The school community is shocked and upset that hidden cameras were brought into our school without our knowledge or permission and used to covertly film our pupils.
“The school is receiving legal advice from the City of Cardiff council and we are monitoring the ongoing situation very carefully.”
The young girl who captured the footage answered an online advert from Fresh One Productions to film the bullying covertly – complete with the pixilation of those involved.
An ITV spokesman told the Times: “Bullying is a major issue and the aim of this series is to show what it is like to walk in the shoes of the child that is actually bullied and to work with their peer group and their school to improve their desperate situation.
“By telling the stories of individual children who are being bullied it aims to expose, first hand, how tough their daily life is and then achieve a resolution to the difficulties they are facing.”
Fresh One Productions said it would not make any profit from airing the footage, dispelling claims it was profiting from bullying.