BBC Hacked Into Staff Emails To Prevent Top Gear Leaks

All throughout Top Gear’s Series 23, we were relaying various stories from sources about potential issues and rifts within the new crew. There were rumors about hosts Chris Evans’ and Matt Leblanc’s relationship being “very frosty” behind the scenes and that “Chris has been a nightmare on set. His controlling nature has got people’s backs up.” There were also leaks about the reason behind a Producer leaving was because Chris Evans was a control freak and that he also claimed that Matt Leblanc was “old hat,” potentially fueling the rumors about the rift. In addition to those rumors, an insider source also revealed the beginnings of a Chris Evans departure towards the end of Series 23, which we have come to know as #CHREXIT.

All of those leaked rumors were provided by “unnamed sources within the BBC” and now it looks like the BBC has had enough. According to the Daily Mail, BBC investigators have hacked into 39 staff members’ email accounts in search of moles within the company.

The corporation, which has been rocked by scandal in recent years, has snooped on its staff in a bid to see who is responsible for giving away its secrets.

BBC bosses have been tasked with preventing scandals from escalating through leaked information after the damaging Jimmy Savile inquiry and controversies over Top Gear.

Stories about Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc’s lack of on-screen chemistry, leaked by sources at the BBC, partially led to the show’s plummeting viewing figures which, in turn, resulted in Evans quitting.

A BBC spokesman said: ‘The BBC rarely monitors or accesses staff email accounts and only in exceptional circumstances when it is reasonable, necessary and represents a proportionate response.

‘Monitoring of email accounts is invariably undertaken in relation to criminal or disciplinary investigations and staff are aware that monitoring can occur.’

We don’t exactly believe the rumors and insider information “partially led to the show’s plummeting,” rather the show itself did that for free. The lack of onscreen chemistry failed to produce new and repeat viewers, resulting in a constant drop in viewership week after week.

We’re not certain whether the corporate hacking job will be effective in chasing the moles, but if these insider sources are daring enough to put their job on the line to release information, they might just be smart enough to use other means of transmitting information.

Very recently we shared a The Grand Tour interview with Andy Wilman, ex Top Gear executive producer and the man who brought Top Gear back from the dead in 2002, and he mentioned that there was a great division within the BBC ranks over how the Jeremy Clarkson’s ‘fracas’ should have been handled. Piecing the insight he shared and the latest hack together, we’re now curious if those insider leaks were just the result of some bad blood and office politics.

(Source: The Daily Mail)