BBC presenter scandal: Stars speak out ‘after top presenter taken off air over explicit photos’ – latest

The culture secretary said she had been assured the BBC is investigating allegations against one of its presenters “swiftly and sensitively”.

In a tweet after a phone call with BBC director-general Tim Davie on Sunday, Lucy Frazer said: “I have spoken to BBC Director General Tim Davie about the deeply concerning allegations involving one of its presenters.

“He has assured me the BBC are investigating swiftly and sensitively.

“Given the nature of the allegations it is important that the BBC is now given the space to conduct its investigation, establish the facts and take appropriate action. I will be kept updated.”

In response to the report, a BBC spokesperson said on Saturday: “We treat any allegations very seriously and we have processes in place to proactively deal with them.

“As part of that, if we receive information that requires further investigation or examination we will take steps to do this.

“That includes actively attempting to speak to those who have contacted us in order to seek further detail and understanding of the situation.

“If we get no reply to our attempts or receive no further contact, that can limit our ability to progress things but it does not mean our enquiries stop.

“If, at any point, new information comes to light or is provided – including via newspapers – this will be acted upon appropriately, in line with internal processes.”

Media lawyer Mark Stephens said the BBC handling of the complaint had been a “shambles”, arguing it had “really dropped the ball”.

“And it does seem that they’ve also caused this to escalate, because it was the frustration with the BBC not acting that led to the family to go to the Sun newspaper,” he told Times Radio.

“And that I think is reckless, because of course what has happened is we’ve seen all this conjecture on social media.”

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer will hold urgent talks with BBC director-general Tim Davie over “deeply concerning” allegations that an unnamed presenter at the corporation paid a teenager for sexually explicit images.

Senior officials have told the broadcaster that the allegations reported by The Sun newspaper must be investigated “urgently and sensitively”, with the Department of Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) kept updated.

Ms Frazer and Mr Davie will have a phone call on Sunday as the BBC comes under pressure over its handling of the complaint.

A DCMS spokeswoman said: “These allegations are deeply concerning.

“As a public service broadcaster in receipt of public funding, senior officials have stressed to the BBC that the allegations must be investigated urgently and sensitively, with the department kept informed.

“The Culture Secretary will be speaking to Tim Davie later today.”

Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith has said the BBC is in a mess and should have immediately suspended the presenter at the centre of the sex scandal.

He said it is clear the corporation has “tried to play this down from the beginning” only for the scandal to “explode”.

“The BBC should act like everybody else does and immediately suspend somebody pending the investigation,” Sir Iain said.

He told GB News: “That way it’s clear and then you can get on with it. At this stage, to try and do it quietly and behind the scenes – it never works because somebody has blown the gaff and they’re in trouble now.

“I don’t quite know what they’re doing. It’s a mess. Clearly if you read the newspaper reports, you can see that the BBC has tried to play this down from the beginning. And it has not worked, because it has exploded.

“They didn’t have any plan. Any inquiries that are taking place seem to be a mess. And that’s led to a whole series of reputational damage across the newspapers to the BBC.”

The BBC has been urged to act “very swiftly” to deal with the claims centring on an unnamed presenter alleged to have paid a teenager for sexually explicit images.

Government minister Victoria Atkins described the claims reported by the Sun as “very, very serious” as questions over the broadcaster’s handling of the situation were raised.

Ms Atkins, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “These are very, very serious allegations and the BBC have said they have processes in place.

“But as public attention and concern grows the BBC is going to have to act very swiftly to deal with these allegations and to set out what they are doing to investigate them.”

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves urged the broadcasters to “speed up their processes” in investigating such allegations.

The Labour MP told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: “I do feel that I often come on this programme and we do start with another crisis at the BBC.

The BBC presenter has been accused of paying a teenager over £35,000 in exchange for sexual photos.

The mother of the victim claimed the money was used to fund a “cocaine addiction” which “destroyed” her child’s life.

Neither the presenter nor the victim have been identified.

Several high profile figures have spoken out about the allegations to deny any involvement.

Writing on Twitter, TV presenter Rylan Clark said: “Not sure why my names floating about but re that story in the sun- that ain’t me babe. I’m Currently filming a show in Italy for the bbc, so take my name out ya mouths.”

Shortly afterwards, radio star Jeremy Vine also responded to the story, telling his Twitter followers: “It certainly ain’t me”.

Gary Lineker tweeted: “Hate to disappoint the haters but it’s not me.”

Nicky Campbell appeared to suggest he had contacted police about being mentioned in connection with the story.

And government minister Victoria Atkins called on the BBC to “act swiftly” to deal with the allegations.

“These are very serious allegations and I can quite understand the public’s concern about them,” she added.

The BBC presenter at the centre of claims he paid a teenager for explicit pictures should not stay in his job while an investigation is carried out, Rachel Reeves has said.

The shadow chancellor told the Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme on Sky News the allegations are “deeply concerning”.

Ms Reeves said: “The idea that some presenters think that they act with impunity and they can get away with these sorts of things, it does call into question the ethics, the investigations, how long these things take.

“The BBC, but also other broadcasters, do need to get a grip because we seem to lurch from one scandal to another and more needs to be done.”

She added: “When serious allegations are made like this I don’t think it is right that people stay in those jobs while those very serious investigations go on.”