A mother claims that this personality, whose name she does not give, has paid a total of more than 40,000 euros to her child since 2020 in exchange for pornographic images.
The BBC in turmoil. The British public service broadcaster says it has suspended one of its presenters, accused in the press of having paid a minor to send him pornographic photos. It all started Friday from the testimony of a mother published by The Sun. She affirms to the tabloid that this personality, whose name she kept silent, would have given a total of 35,000 pounds sterling (about 41,000 euros) in exchange for these images. She adds that her child, now 20, showed her a bank statement showing transfers made by the star. “Once, [le présentateur] had sent 5,000 pounds at once”she assures the British newspaper, in exchange for “sexually explicit photographs”.
These remittances began in 2020, when her child was then 17 years old, continues the mother, who affirms that these sums were used to finance her consumption of crack, a very addictive drug. She also claims to have seen a photo of the presenter on her phone, “sitting on a sofa in your underwear”. According The Sunwho does not specify whether it is a girl or a boy, the family had already contacted the BBC on May 19, to complain about the behavior of this personality, and to demand that he “stop sending money”. But it remained on the air for several more weeks.
Several BBC names respond to rumors
The name of the star presenter in question remains unknown, but the case is already causing a stir in the United Kingdom, with its share of rumours. “I hate to disappoint haters, but that’s not me”, commented in particular, Saturday, former footballer Gary Lineker. The BBC consultant was briefly suspended in March for tweets critical of the British government’s asylum policy. The animators ryan clark And Jeremy Vine also assured on Twitter that they were not affected by this case. Another, Nicky Campbell, said to have contacted police after facing accusations on social media.
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The Secretary of State for Culture, Lucy Frazer, spoke by telephone with the managing director of the British public broadcasting giant, Tim Davie. The BBC then released a statement announcing that a “male member” had been suspended. The group also says it was aware of a first complaint in May, but that “new allegations of a different nature” were brought to his attention on Thursday. “It is important that these subjects are treated fairly and with care”added the group, which says it has “contacted outside authorities, in accordance with (his) protocols”.
London’s Metropolitan Police confirmed on Sunday that the BBC had contacted them about the matter, “but no formal referral or allegation has been made”. “We will need more information before determining what further steps to take”, said the Metropolitan Police. Lucy Frazer for her part wrote on Twitter it was “important to give the BBC time to investigate, establish the facts and take appropriate action”. “The BBC investigative team is examining [cette affaire] since it was reported and the file is actively followed”also said Tim Davie, in an internal memo quoted by the PA agency.
The BBC faces political criticism
The BBC had already announced on Friday that it was dealing “all charges very seriously” and had “a procedure in place to manage them proactively”. The management of the complaint received in May is at the origin of a “a mess”, believes on the contrary Mark Stephens, lawyer specializing in media law, contacted by Times Radio. According to him, the attitude of the public group “caused an escalation, since the family turned to the newspaper The Sun, due to his frustration with the BBC’s inaction”. The lawyer says he was contacted by three personalities whose names had appeared on social networks and who wanted to know the legal options available to them against these rumours.
Former Home Secretary and Conservative MP Priti Patel qualified of “derisory” the BBC’s response to this new case. “The BBC, but the other channels too, must pull themselves together, because we seem to be going from scandal to scandal”, reacted Labor opposition MP Rachel Reeves on Sky News. In May, the star host of the private channel ITV Phillip Schofield quit after admitting an intimate relationship with a young colleague he had helped to hire. The management of the chain had been implicated for its management of the affair, even within Parliament.