ArtsEd Chair Resigns Following Bullying and Misconduct Exposé

According to Deadline, Brian Brodie has resigned as ArtsEd chair, citing personal reasons. The decision comes after the board received criticism for the way they handled the bullying and misconduct allegations at the top UK drama school.

The article states that Brodie joined the board in July 2022, and resigned after he launched an independent, barrister-led inquiry on the ArtsEd principal Julie Spencer, who is currently on medical leave.

Deadline published a special investigation on the alleged bullying, misconduct, and toxicity at the top UK drama school in November. Following the expose, 100 parents wrote a letter to the board, calling the school's response to the allegations “inadequate and unsatisfactory.” 

Brodie's resignation was announced in an email to parents of ArtsEd students from Trustee Farida Mannan, who also has been named acting chair. The subject of the investigation, Principal Julie Spencer, will not return to the institution until the investigation is complete.

“I appreciate that the last few weeks have been immensely challenging for the organisation,” Mannan told Deadline. “The allegations raised in recent media coverage are serious and do not reflect our values or the organisation we want to be.”

In her email to the parents on Friday, Mannan stated: “It is clear to me that we have communicated poorly and ineffectively with you on some of these matters in the last few weeks, and this has placed an undue burden upon you."

This is not the first misconduct investigation at ArtsEd. Barrister Rebecca Tuck found in 2021 that the institution demonstrated a “lack of regard” for the wellbeing of students, exposing them to "favoritism, bullying, and other misconduct."

“I appreciate that concerns have been raised about undertaking another investigation less than three years after the Rebecca Tuck KC review. We are fully aware that any review of this kind will mean a significant commitment of time and resources, but we believe that it is the fair, appropriate and responsible course of action, and demonstrates how serious we are about holding ourselves to the highest standards,” Mannon told parents.

The senior attorney in charge of the new investigation, Ghazaleh Rezaie, will report her findings back to the board in March next year, according to Mannan.

Andrew Lloyd Webber currently serves as ArtsEd’s president.

About ArtsEd

ArtsEd is a Conservatoire Drama School offering exceptional performing arts training; rigorous, triple-threat tuition in Musical Theatre (BA & Foundation Degrees) and detailed, contemporary Acting training for stage, film, television and audio (BA, Foundation & MA Degrees). ArtsEd’s Independent Day School and Sixth Form is consistently the UK’s most academically successful performing arts school, providing an exciting and dynamic environment in which to study GCSE, A-Level, and BTEC subjects. ArtsEd EXTRA provides hugely popular Weekend and Holiday courses, masterclasses, and workshops.

Alumni include leading choreographers, directors and producers alongside performers ranging from Dame Angela Lansbury and Nigel Havers, to Miriam-Teak Lee (Hamilton, &Juliet), Danny Mac (Hollyoaks, Strictly Come Dancing), Samantha Barks (Les Miserable, Frozen), and Lashana Lynch, who stars as Agent Nomi in the upcoming James Bond movie No Time to Die. 

Known as the most academically successful performing arts school in the UK, ArtsEd’s Day School is ranked in the top 10% of all schools nationally for ‘value added’.

In 2019 ArtsEd was awarded TEF Gold in the government’s Teaching Excellence Framework and Student Outcomes. Its most recent Ofsted report lists the school as ‘Outstanding’. The 2019 report by the Independent Schools Inspectorate rated ArtsEd as ‘Excellent in all categories.’ In their 2020 report, Good Schools Guide described ArtsEd as “A happy, inclusive and supportive environment that parents, pupils – and the performing arts industry itself – can’t seem to get enough of.” 

ArtsEd is a member of the Federation of Drama Schools (FDS) and is renowned for being one of the UK’s leading institutions for performing arts training. The school consistently ranks highly in league tables, such as the BE OPEN Foundation, which listed ArtsEd as one of the top five schools and colleges in the UK and one of the top 40 in Europe, The Stage’s ‘School of the Year’ award, and Trinity College London’s validation: ‘Exemplary’. 

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