Rona Fairhead Advocates Pay Limits for BBC Actors While Making a Bundle Moonlighting

Rona Fairhead, head of the BBC Trust, said that talent is important, but its value has a limit, at least financially.

With the BBC cutting its spending by 15% since 2008, Rona Fairhead says it must go further to reduce costs, and that means not being bossed around by celebrities who insist on raises, but to tell them that if they want more money, they can go elsewhere. Even with cost-cutting measures, a study found that the highest paid talent at the BBC still receives close to the maximum level. Of fifteen salary negotiations under review only two were granted for less than the maximum agreed upon fee.

According to the Telegraph, Rona Fairhead said the BBC must show it “does more to develop new talent, can demonstrate optimum value in its deals and knows when to walk away. The trust recognizes that the outstanding people on screen and on air are the heart of the BBC. At the same time, we are clear that the BBC has a responsibility to spend money wisely in its approach to talent pay.”

While Fairhead thinks there is a limit to what BBC actors should be paid, she seems to be stretching her own activities and pay to the maximum. While she receives a meager 110, 000 pounds yearly ($169, 000) in her role as BBC Trust head, she has made a fat 500, 000 or $769, 000 moonlighting for the controversial HSBC bank for just 50 days a year.

The Swiss bank HSBC is facing a scandal that it allowed high profile people to get a tax free pass. In addition, Fairhead serves on the board at PepsiCo, for which she gets paid as much as she does at the BBC, but only for a few days’ work a year. If Fairhead thinks actors should be given limits on their pay, perhaps Fairhead should be given a limit on her moonlighting for astronomical sums.