BBC presenter scandal – latest: Star accused of breaking lockdown rule as colleague urges him to name himself

Jeremy Vine and Piers Morgan are among the high-profile figures who have called for the unnamed presenter at the heart of the BBC scandal to come forward publicly for the good of his colleagues at the corporation.

Fresh claims about the anonymous man emerged on Tuesday, following previous allegations over payments he had made for sexually explicit photos.

The Sun newspaper’s front page on Wednesday also reported that a 23-year-old person has claimed the presenter broke lockdown rules to meet them during the pandemic in February 2021.

Posting online on Tuesday, Vine said the latest allegations would result in “yet more vitriol being thrown at perfectly innocent colleagues” at the BBC.

Read the full story here:

There are so many question marks about The Sun’s journalism that it risks ending up making them look far worse than the presenter at the centre of the explicit images allegations, whose private life is their own affair if no laws have been broken, writes Sean O’Grady:

On 10 July, the Met said it is carrying out further inquiries to establish whether any crime has been committed after BBC representatives met with detectives virtually.

A lawyer representing the young person said the claims in the “inappropriate article” are “rubbish”.

In a letter reported by BBC News At Six, the young person said via the lawyer: “For the avoidance of doubt, nothing inappropriate or unlawful has taken place between our client and the BBC personality and the allegations reported in The Sun newspaper are ‘rubbish’.”

Here’s the timeline of allegations:

In another day of extraordinary drama, they said the allegations published in The Sun, were “rubbish”, in a letter issued by their lawyer to the broadcaster.

It’s understood BBC staff are furious at the broadcaster’s handling of the scandal, which prompted several of the corporation’s top talent to rush to declare their innocence and that the presenter, who was suspended on Sunday, is not minded to reveal their identity until the outcome of any police probe.

A person in their early twenties has said they felt threatened by “expletive-filled” messages from the BBC presenter facing allegations he paid a teenager for sexually explicit photos as the scandal surrounding the corporation deepens.

The fresh shock allegations, reported by the BBC, add further pressure on the broadcaster as it reels from the fallout from separate claims made against the unnamed male presenter and first reported by The Sun.

The individual in their early twenties – who has no connection to the person at the centre of The Sun’s story – met the male presenter on a dating app before their conversations moved to other platforms, according to the BBC.

Read the full story by Adam Forrest here:

The Sun first reported last week that a high-profile broadcaster had paid more than £35,000 for explicit pictures and appeared in his underwear on a video call with a then-17-year-old. Its report also omitted the star’s name.

The BBC confirmed on Sunday (9 July) it had made contact with the Metropolitan Police over the presenter’s reported actions.

Family members complained to the broadcaster on May 18 but it has since emerged that only two follow-up attempts via email and phone were made by the BBC’s Corporate Investigations Team.

A high-profile BBC presenter has been accused of paying a teenager more than £35,000 for explicit pictures.

Once the allegations went public, the now-suspended star said, “what have you done?” in an effort to try and “stop the investigation”, it has been claimed.

It came afterThe Sun reported last week how the star allegedly appeared in his underwear in a video call and began paying the person for explicit content when the complainant was 17.

Oliver Pritchard-Jones has the full story:

BBC director general Tim Davie has publicly commented on the corporation’s presenter scandal for the first time.

A presenter has been accused of paying a person £35,000 for explicit images over three years which began when the person, now aged 20, was 17, in allegations published by The Sun.

Mr Davie told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme on Tuesday (11 July) that he has not yet spoken to the unnamed presenter.

The BBC boss added that the complaints are “clearly damaging” to the broadcaster, and addressed a challenge from host Sarah Montague that “everyone is this building knows” the identity of the unnamed star.

The BBC has suspended a male member of staff following allegations an unnamed presenter paid a teenager tens of thousands of pounds for sexually explicit images.

But the young person at the centre of the controversy has said nothing inappropriate or unlawful happened.

Here is a timeline of how events unfolded based, in part, on information from the BBC and The Sun.