BBC Top Earners' Salaries: Best Comebacks From Stars As Pay Packets Revealed

Stars throw shade at the critics.
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The wages of top earners at the BBC have finally been revealed - setting tongues wagging and commentators huffing and puffing across the UK.

Gary Lineker, who earned at least £1.75 million from the broadcaster in 2016, preempted the fallout from the controversial list when he tweeted ahead of its publication - joking about needing his “tin helmet”.

Happy BBC salary day. I blame my agent and the other TV channels that pay more. Now where did I put my tin helmet?

— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) July 19, 2017

He later joked the salary exposure was an “absolute outrage” - asking how Chris Evans, who earned at least £2.2 million, earned more.

This whole BBC salary exposure business is an absolute outrage...I mean how can @achrisevans be on more than me?

— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) July 19, 2017

The former footballer was just one of 96 BBC stars earning £150,000 or more a year funded by the licence fee to be revealed.

And while some have stayed silent on social media, elsewhere the BBC banter has begun.

Scott Mills, who earned at least £250,000 in 2016, was asked to shout lunch for colleagues including BBC Radio 1 DJ Chris Stark.

@scott_mills are you buying lunch today?

— Chris Stark (@Chris_Stark) July 19, 2017

Mills apparently obliged.

What would you like? https://t.co/dOzHvpUNYU

— Scott Mills (@scott_mills) July 19, 2017

TV presenter Dan Walker, who also made the list but earned around £50k less than Mills, with a salary of at least £150,000, also piped in on the BBC banter.

Can you me a ham sandwich and a copy of the Daily Mail please? 😳

— Dan Walker (@mrdanwalker) July 19, 2017

Radio 1 DJ Greg James, who earned at least £150,000 last year, simply Tweeted a YouTube clip of The Office where David Brent sings Des’ree’s ’Crazy Maze’ which includes the lyrics: “Money don’t make my world go round. I’m reaching out to a higher ground.”

His colleague Nick Grimshaw was shown to be Radio 1′s top earner by the list - taking up to £250,000 more than him, with a salary of between £350,000 and £399,999.

https://t.co/QPWU8lAy8v

— Greg James (@gregjames) July 19, 2017

Other BBC colleagues also had fun comebacks to the list, with one political correspondent saying she was going to sell badges for those who didn’t earn enough to make the cut.

I'm selling badges saying "I'm not on the list" https://t.co/EMwozyJ1af

— Vicki Young (@BBCVickiYoung) July 19, 2017

This is what BBC Woman’s Hour presenter Jane Garvey had to say.

I'm looking forward to presenting @BBCWomansHour today. We'll be discussing #GenderPayGap . As we've done since 1946. Going well, isn't it? https://t.co/j2M6oQBqde

— Jane Garvey (@janegarvey1) July 19, 2017

Off to the BBC to read the report on how much its stars get paid pic.twitter.com/Xz24TskVY0

— Anita Singh (@anitathetweeter) July 19, 2017

Could #notonthelist become a hashtag?

@janegarvey1 I'm happy to accept a pay rise to help the BBC out with its gender pay gap problem... #notonthelist

— charlotte smith (@charlottebsmith) July 19, 2017

Some spoof accounts of people mentioned on the list also joined in with the banter following the publication of the list.

A ‘John Harumphrys’ account joked the real John Humphrys, who earned at least £600,000 last year, would be avoiding his Radio 4 Today programme colleagues Justin Webb, who earned at least £150,000, and Nick Robinson, who was revealed to be on between £250,000 and £299,999.

Doing my best to avoid @JustinOnWeb and @bbcnickrobinson today.

— John Harumphrys (@JohnHarumphrys) July 19, 2017

An account spoofing former footballer and sports pundit Alan Shearer, who earned between £400,000 and £499,999 expressed disbelief at the news.

I'm paid how much!?!

— Alan Shearer's Eyes (@HowAlanSeesIt) July 19, 2017

Meanwhile, Labour MP Jess Phillips made people LOL when she responded to Fiona Bruce being paid less than Huw Edwards.

Why is Fiona Bruce paid 200k less than Huw Edwards? #BBCpay

— Beth Rigby (@BethRigby) July 19, 2017

With this.

Especially as he doesn't have to pretend to be delighted by a pewter pint pot someone found at a car boot in Hexham https://t.co/Dbug7ZDjgk

— Jess Phillips (@jessphillips) July 19, 2017

And one journalist summed up the fact that the BBC couldn’t please everyone - or pay talent in a way that every person would approve of - in one witty Tweet.

I'm disgusted to learn that BBC salaries don't directly correlate with the specific bits of output that I like.

— Jamie Ross (@JamieRoss7) July 19, 2017

The BBC press office also had its fair share of reasons why the BBC was worth it.

We don't know where to begin. That dance. That interview. That bedtime story. And so much more. A year in sixty seconds on the #BBC. pic.twitter.com/quSv7eL9Pt

— BBC Press Office (@bbcpress) July 19, 2017

Not bad for £2.83 a week... pic.twitter.com/aPrw58wux5

— BBC Press Office (@bbcpress) July 19, 2017
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