Diary of a CEO host Steven Bartlett has been condemned by top health experts for sharing harmful health information on his podcast that could put cancer patients at risk.
Guests on the podcast — which rakes in 15million views a month — have claimed cancer can be treated by following a keto diet, and that the Covid vaccine was a ‘net negative for society’.
But experts have slammed the Dragons’ Den star for failing to question these disproven claims, and creating a distrust of conventional medicine as a result.
Professor David Grimes, Associate Professor in public health and cancer researcher from Trinity College Dublin, warned that cancer patients could end up ‘worse outcomes’ by following the recommendations of the self-proclaimed gurus.
‘You could potentially and very realistically get very, very, sick,’ he said.
Meanwhile, Professor Heidi Larson, an expert in public confidence in healthcare, accused the podcast of ‘sending people away from evidence-based medicine’.
‘[Patients] stop doing things that might have some side effects, even though it could save their life,’ she said.
The damning comments come as part of a BBC World Service investigation of the accuracy of health information featured on Barlett’s Diary of A CEO podast.
Diary of a CEO host Steven Bartlett has been condemned for sharing harmful health information on his podcast that could put cancer patients at risk
The broadcaster analysed 23 health-related podcast episodes and found 15 contained an average of 14 harmful claims that went against scientific evidence.
The misinformation was allowed with ‘little to no challenge’ by the 32 year-old entrepreneur, who is said to be worth some £70million.
Podcasts in the UK are not regulated by the media regulator Ofcom, which means Mr Bartlett is not breaking any broadcasting rules.
One episode flagged as featuring ‘discredited’ views aired in July, and included an interview with Dr Aseem Malhotra, a controversial medic known for voicing his anti-Covid vaccine stance on social media.
In the podcast, Dr Malhotra described the Covid jab — credited as saving at least 1.6million lives in Europe alone — as having a ‘net negative for society’.
At the end of the episode, Bartlett defended his decision to air Malhotra’s outlandish views, saying he aimed to ‘present some of the other side’ as ‘the truth is usually somewhere in the middle’.
Another episode to come under fire is an October installment that featured health advice from Dr Thomas Seyfried, an American Professor of biology and genetics based at Boston college.
In February, a personal trainer branded Steven Bartlett ‘the biggest factor of misinformation on the planet’ and slammed the businessman for ‘platforming charlatans’ on his podcast
Bartlett first attracted controversy in January for supporting a firm that claimed to resolve symptoms of the debilitating illness ME with stick-on ear ‘seeds’. Charities claimed there was no evidence that the ‘seeds’ can help the condition.
Steven Barlett’s brother Jason became CEO of the ear seeds firm, only to silently step aside from the role months later, following the controversy.
Dr Seyfried is a proponent of the ketogenic diet — an eating plan that is high in fat and low in carbohydrates — and insists it can help to treat cancer.
As well as suggesting that eating this way could prevent and even treat the disease, he claimed radiotherapy and chemotherapy only improved patients’ lifespan by one-to-two months, comparing modern cancer treatments to ‘medieval cures’.
Commenting on the BBC’s findings, Prof Heidi Larson said the guests were ‘overstretching’ scientific fact that is known to be true.
‘ It sends people away from evidence-based medicine. They stop doing things that might have some side effects, even though it could save their life.’
This isn’t the first time that Barlett has come under fire for promoting questionable health information.
Most recently, in August, his nutrition adverts for diet app Zoe and food replacement supplement Huel were banned by the advertising watchdog for being ‘misleading’.
Three sponsored posts were shared on Facebook in February and March in which the star praised the products from the health science brands.
However, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) claimed that the ads were ‘misleading’ as they did not make it clear that Bartlett had a financial interest in both brands.
In January, Glasgow-based fitness expert Cáelán Tierney accused Bartlett of platforming ‘charlatans’ and ‘conspiracy theorists’, during an episode of the podcast, Chat S*** Get Cancelled.
‘Steven and his podcast [the Diary of a CEO] the biggest factor of nutritionist misinformation on the planet at the minute,’ he said.
Three sponsored posts were shared on Facebook in February and March in which the Dragons Den ‘s star praised the products from the health science brands
‘He has done more for negatively impacting health and nutrition literacy than anyone else.
‘With the guest that he’s platforming the worst of the worst charlatans.’
Barlett, who dropped out of university in his first year in order to pursue a career in business, first attracted backlash following his investment in a controversial ‘ear seeds’ firm that featured in an episode of Dragons’ Den.
Bartlett offered Giselle Boxer, from Sheffield, £50,000 for 12.5 per cent of her company Acu Seeds in an episode broadcasted in January.
Boxer claimed that the £30 gold plated ear seeds, which stick on to the ear, had ‘helped to heal’ her myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) and eased symptoms of conditions including anxiety and insomnia.
Bartlett’s brother and business partner Jason joined the board of the company and both he and Bartlett were said to be working ‘closely’ with Ms Boxer as her business boomed.
However, social media users accused Boxer of selling ‘snake oil’, while ME campaign groups accused her of promoting ‘unfounded’ claims.
They said there was no scientific evidence to support the use of the seeds.
In February, Jason Barlett appeared to quietly quit his role as director of the company, according to documents from Companies House.
Steven Barlett, who was born in Botswana in 1992 before moving to the UK aged two, made his fortune with the social media marketing agency Social Chain, which he co-founded in 2014, aged 22.
The agency — which worked with brands such as Apple and McDonald’s — was listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in 2019, said to be worth in the region of $200million.
He stepped down from his role as CEO of the firm in 2020, aged 27, to focus on other projects, including his podcast and Dragon’s Den appearances, which began in 2021.
Bartlett was the youngest ‘dragon’ to join the BBC’s panel at just 28 years-old.
