The ‘brutally short’ message BBC staff were sent to inform them of Jermaine Jenas’ sacking

A so-called ‘brutally short and to the point’ message was sent to BBC staff as they were informed of Jermaine Jenas’ departure.

The 41-year-old former Newcastle United and Spurs midfielder, who presented The One Show and appeared on Match of the Day, has been taken off air from both primetime shows following complaints about workplace conduct.

That’s according to the BBC, who claim issues involving digital communications such as texts were raised with the corporation a few weeks ago.

Jenas, meanwhile, is ‘battling’ to clear his name. Speaking on talkSPORT’s Drivetime show after news of his sacking emerged, Jenas declared he is “not happy” and is taking legal advice.

“I can’t really talk about it,” he said. “I, as you can probably see, am not happy about it. But currently as it stands I’m going to have to let the lawyers deal with it.

“You know, there’s two sides to every story as we know. So that’s all I can say right now.”

When asked about the allegation itself, Jenas said: “Like I said, I’m not happy about this situation. I’m going to be speaking to my lawyers about it is all I can say right now.”

A BBC spokesperson said: “We can confirm that he is no longer part of our presenting line up.”

Alex Kay-Jelski, who is the broadcaster’s Director of Sport, sent a short email at 3.39pm on Thursday. He wrote: “Hi all, I wanted to let you know that Jermaine Jenas is no longer working for the BBC.”

A source via The Mirror said the email was “brutally short and to the point” and “felt like there was no messing around.”

The message is also said to have ‘raised eyebrows’ among employees, according to the Daily Mail, because it was sent from Kay-Jelski’s iPhone.

Image credit: Getty

As mentioned earlier, the former midfielder works for talkSPORT and was presenting a show on air when news broke. It was decided ‘with Jermaine that he should continue to present’.

A statement from talkSPORT said: “Given the array of serious allegations being reported as the story continues to evolve, it’s for Jermaine as a private individual to address them in the way he chooses.

“There are no plans for Jermaine to broadcast as a presenter on talkSPORT in the immediate future.”