The boss of craft beer giant BrewDog is making an official complaint to the BBC and regulator Ofcom over a 'hatchet job' documentary.
James Watt said he could not allow "dozens of inaccuracies and false claims" contained within a recent BBC Disclosure documentary go unchallenged.
In a statement published on his LinkedIn page yesterday, Mr Watt responded to claims about his conduct and revealed his personal reflections on what he described as a difficult fortnight following the broadcast of The Truth About BrewDog.
'I feel terrible for our team'
"We knew full well the documentary was never going to be anything other than the ‘malicious hatchet job’ our legal counsel described it as," he said.
"Watching it, alone, in my office was savage. This was simply not the BrewDog I know and love. It was a malicious caricature, based largely on untruths. I utterly refute the characterisation of me as well.
"The most direct claim against me was that I stared at someone. But it was laced it with so much innuendo and smear that they got their desired effect and now, thousands of people, all over social media, were calling me some of the worst things imaginable.
"For the last 8 months the waves of attack on our business have been pretty relentless. I feel terrible for our team to have to endure this for most of the last year. For that, I am sorry to our team and our community."
Abuse
Mr Watt said "to have the world at large falsely accuse you of terrible things" was soul destroying.
He added: "I am really concerned about the impact that this documentary has already had on our fantastic people. I am crushed by how this program has impacted my family. And the abuse our social media and our customer service teams have received is simply extraordinary. To them I apologise and thank them for their stoicism in the face of this storm.
"I am not for a second saying I am perfect. And furthermore, as a business we are far from perfect. We make mistakes, we learn, we move forward.
"But by broadcasting what they did, BBC Scotland acted as judge, jury and executioner. The programme was so intent on creating a sensationalist story that they largely took normal things and portrayed them as nefarious. This is not how justice or how fair, balanced and responsible reporting are supposed to work."
The BBC has yet to respond to Mr Watt's comments.
Moving forward
Mr Watt said the business was 100% committed to ensuring absolutely everyone who works at BrewDog feels safe and comfortable in their place of work.
"Hopefully, by the end of 2022 I can look back on how what has been the most challenging 2 weeks of my life turned out to be a catalyst for creating an even better future for the team and our business," he said.