Fremantle UK CEO Simon Andreae Faced Misconduct Complaints Before Resigning On Health Grounds

Jake Kanter
Updated ·5 min read

EXCLUSIVE: Simon Andreae, Chief Executive of Too Hot To Handle and The Apprentice producer Fremantle UK, faced at least two complaints of workplace misconduct before he quit today, citing health reasons.

Andreae told Fremantle staff on Friday morning that he was stepping down with immediate effect to focus on his health, family, and a smaller workload. The prominent British television executive had faced two recent investigations into alleged comments he made to female colleagues, insiders told Deadline.

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Andreae, Fox’s former Executive Vice President of Alternative Entertainment,​​ was questioned over an alleged incident at a Fremantle diversity event last month. Separately, Fremantle hired an external lawyer to examine accusations about his conduct in February. In both cases, sources said Andreae was accused of using sexualized language that made female colleagues uncomfortable.

Andreae’s attorney said he resigned for health reasons. Fremantle declined to comment on internal staff matters, but said that it takes “any allegations of misconduct extremely seriously.”

The company did not address specific accusations against Andreae when approached by Deadline with questions about the matter. Deadline reached out to Fremantle and Andreae for comment about the misconduct allegations on Thursday morning UK time. He announced his resignation less than 24 hours later.

Fremantle UK is responsible for making ‘Britain’s Got Talent’
Fremantle UK is responsible for making ‘Britain’s Got Talent’

Andreae was named CEO of Fremantle UK in 2020 after the American Idol giant fully acquired his production outfit Naked for £4.8M ($6M). Reporting to Fremantle Group CEO Jennifer Mullin, he oversaw a unit that generates hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue and is famed for hits including Britain’s Got Talent and The Responder, the BAFTA-nominated Martin Freeman series.

A complaint was made to senior management about an alleged comment Andreae made to colleagues at a “speed networking event” in March, held in collaboration with the MAMA Youth Project, a group that helps young people from under-represented communities break into TV.

Deadline understands the alleged comment related to Fremantle’s gender pay gap, which is said to be a source of unhappiness among female employees. Fremantle’s 20% median gender pay gap does not compare favorably to some rivals, including BBC Studios and Banijay, which have salary disparities of 9.6% and -3.6% respectively.

Sources said Andreae had not been at work since the incident and was not expected to attend upcoming meetings, including a Fremantle global leadership team gathering scheduled to take place in the UK next week. In his email to staff on Friday, Andreae said he had been on leave because of “challenges to my health.”

The incident at the MAMA Youth Project event occurred after Andreae had been given a final warning about his alleged conduct just weeks earlier, sources said. Anna Bond, an employment attorney at Lewis Silkin, one of the top-ranked law firms in the UK, was hired to carry out an independent investigation following allegations of misconduct. Insiders said that the investigation found evidence to support claims against Andreae, but he was kept on in his role as UK Chief Executive.

Sources said CEO Mullin considered Andreae to be influential in keeping Fremantle on track to hit its 2025 revenue target of €3B ($3.3B). He has been involved in winning new commissions, keeping control of overheads, and clinching major acquisitions, including a £38M deal for 72 Films, which is behind Amazon’s 007’s Road to a Million.

There is anger among Fremantle insiders about how seriously the company has taken the concerns about Andreae and how swiftly it has acted on them. “He says things that might have been said in a bygone age,” said one person. “Nobody’s dealt with it.”

Fremantle said: “We do not comment on internal staff matters, but can confirm that Fremantle takes any allegations of misconduct extremely seriously and we have robust procedures in place to ensure that any complaints made are thoroughly and correctly investigated and appropriate action is taken.”

Andreae told staff this morning: “As some of you know, I’ve had some challenges to my health along the way and this has led to me taking some time out recently.

“Now, after thirty straight years on the frontlines of television production, I’ve decided to step back and take some time to focus on my health, my family, and a smaller portfolio of projects. I’d like to thank everyone at Fremantle and wish you every success.”

Simon Andreae was an Executive Producer on ‘Planet Sex With Cara Delevingne’
Simon Andreae was an Executive Producer on ‘Planet Sex With Cara Delevingne’

Sources said Andreae was at work between the two investigations into his conduct. People familiar with the matter said he traveled to America during this period and met with Mullin, who is based in Los Angeles.

Andreae has held several senior positions in the television industry on both sides of the Atlantic. He worked as Channel 4’s Head of Science and Education for three years, and later joined Discovery as Senior Vice President of Development and Production. He served as Fox’s Alternative Entertainment chief, replacing Mike Darnell. He exited after a rocky year-and-a-half tenure and went on to found Naked in 2015.

Andreae’s credits include Naked And Afraid and more recently he served as an executive producer on Hulu/BBC series Planet Sex With Cara Delevingne. He has written two books: Anatomy of Desire and The Secrets Of Love And Lust.

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