Trond Giske

In January 2012, Giske received widespread attention for his opposition to the sale of TV 2 to a Danish company. Giske spoke out against the transfer of 100% of TV 2's shares to the Egmont Group, at a price of 2.1 billion NOK (274 million euros), despite Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg stating his government would have no opinion on the case.[14][15] It was reported that Giske threatened the head of the Telenor Group, Harald Norvik, with the loss of his position if the sale went through.[15][16]

One of the policies championed during Giskes tenure as minister has been the so-called "salary moderation". The idea is that the leaders of state owned companies or companies where the Norwegian government was majority shareholder should not earn more in salary than their counterparts in the private sector.[17] Giske called on board members and CEO's to adhere to this policy or risk being replaced.[18]

Giske has several times faced accusations of cronyism by having appointed little-qualified close friends to well paid government jobs, which also led to formal inquiries into his actions in the Standing Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs.[3]

Entra

In October 2012 Trond Giske's long-time friend and Labour party colleague Rune Olsø was appointed CEO of Entra Eiendom, a company wholly owned by the Ministry of Trade and Industry. Olsø was to receive NOK 4.2 million in salary, which was perceived by some to be in violation of Giske's own policy of moderation.[20] Later it was revealed that the chairman and vice-chairman of the board opposed the appointment of Olsø, but lost the vote due to pressure from members who had personal or political ties to Giske.[21] In the wake of the affair, prime minister Jens Stoltenberg appointed Bård Vegar Solhjell to handle the matter, as Giske had recused himself. Solhjell responded by firing three board members, including two who were largely seen as having close ties to Giske.[22] Ten days after the story broke, Rune Olsø resigned as CEO of Entra.[23]

Telenor

In October 2012 several media reported that Giske had demanded that his close friend and colleague Tore O. Sandvik be appointed to the board of directors of The Telenor Group, even though the board had stated that Sandvik "was not even close to being qualified", the board also objected due to the fact that Sandvik was considered one of Giske's closest friends.[24] According to the media reports Giske eventually relented, but only after the board accepted another friend, Hallvard Bakke, instead; Bakke himself stated that he had no knowledge about the telecommunications industry.[25] Giske vehemently denied ever having made the demand, claiming it might have been a mere proposal.[26]

On 25 October it emerged that Giske in 2009, when he was Minister of Culture, had personally appointed Tore O. Sandvik's wife and former party colleague Trine Brænden to the board of directors at the prestigious Trondheim Symphony Orchestra (TSO).[27] Giske stated that they were not close friends.[28]

In December 2017, in what became known as the Giske affair, Giske was accused by multiple younger women of sexual harassment and sexual assault.[1] The accusations came in the context of the international Me Too debate in the aftermath of the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse allegations, and dominated Norwegian media for several weeks. Giske admitted to some of the allegations of sexual misconduct, although he denied some of the accusations.[29] On 1 January 2018 he was relieved of his duty as deputy leader for the Labour Party for an indefinite period as a result of the allegations. [30] On 7 January 2018 he permanently resigned as deputy leader of the Labour Party stating that it was impossible for himself and his family to withstand the pressure of the picture that was painted of him by the media. Labour Party leader Jonas Gahr Støre stated that he had asked Giske to permanently resign a week earlier.[6][5] Giske's final resignation came shortly before the party executive committee were to debate the Giske affair.[5] According to Aftenposten, Giske's resignation came only hours before party leader Støre was about to state publicly that Giske did not have his confidence and needed to resign.[31] On 25 January 2018 the Labour Party ruled that Giske had violated the party's rules against sexual harassment and that his behaviour disqualified him from having offices in the party.[7][8] In response Giske sought legal assistance against his own party.[9]

In 2020 Giske faced intense criticism and renewed allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault when he sought election as chairman of the local Trøndelag party branch; as a result he withdrew his candidacy and announced his complete and permanent withdrawal from politics.[2]