BBC's highest-paid male presenters facing salary cuts: 'That's one lever we could pull'

All seven of the corporation's stars earning over half a million are men

The BBC's highest earning male stars are facing salary cuts after the release of the annual report revealed that the channel's biggest earner is earning more than four times the amount earned by its highest paid woman.

Controversy struck following the report's release when it emerged that the stars earning over half a million were all men - Chris Evans (£2.2m-£2.25m), Gary Lineker (£1.75m-£1,799,999), Graham Norton (£850,000-£899,999), radio presenter Jeremy Vine (£850,000-£899,999), Today host John Humphrys (£850,000-£899,999), BBC News' Huw Edwards(£550-£599,999) and long-time Radio 2 fixture Steve Wright (£500,000-£549,999).

The highest paid female presenter is Claudia Winkleman (between £450,00 and £499,000).

Speaking on Newsnight, the BBC’s director of radio and education James Purnell acknowledged the statistics, stating: “Quite a lot of men have been taking pay cuts; John Humphrys said that today on air.”

“I’m not going to start negotiating live on air, but that’s clearly one of the levers we can pull, and we have been doing that,“ he added.

The BBC’s director general, Lord Hall, has pledged to close the gender pay gap by 2020 as well as strive to improve diversity after the list revealed that only 10 of the 96 listed stars were people of colour.