The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is involved in a massive scandal, after allegations surfaced that one of its stars was giving money to a teenager in exchange for sexually explicit pictures.
The British government has now called on the BBC to ‘urgently and sensitively’ investigate these allegations, and to keep ministers informed of its actions, ‘as a public service broadcaster in receipt of public funding’.
Deadline reported:
“The mystery BBC presenter at the heart of a sex pictures scandal has been the subject of fresh allegations on Sunday amid a growing crisis for Britain’s national broadcaster.
Tabloid newspaper The Sun alleged that the unnamed star appeared in a video call with a teenager in his underwear. It follows earlier revelations that the star allegedly paid the young person tens of thousands of pounds for explicit images, with the exchanges dating back to 2020 when the individual was aged 17.
The Sun is basing its reporting on allegations made by the teenager’s mother. She has reportedly signed a sworn affidavit supporting her claims and has not requested payment for telling her story. No one involved in the story has been named.”
So far, the identity of the accused has been kept secret as well as the identity of the teenager and their accusing mother.
“The mother told The Sun that she saw an image on her child’s phone of the BBC presenter in his underwear ‘leaning forward, getting ready for my child to perform for him’.”
The scandal has taken British public opinion by storm, and has led the BBC to suspend the mystery star.
GBNews reported:
“A BBC star has been taken off air following “serious allegations” about paying a teenager for sexual pictures.
The unnamed presenter allegedly paid more than £35,000.”
The teenager’s mother said that the star’s money led to a rampant drug abuse crisis in the alleged grooming victim.
“‘The money had been in exchange for sexually explicit photographs of my child’.
The money handed to the now-20-year-old supposedly transformed a ‘happy-go-lucky youngster to a ghost-like crack addict’ in three years.”
Online, people started mentioning their suspicions about who would be the accused BBC star.
Some presenters have had to deny that they are the accused mystery star, amid wild speculation on social media.
Sky News reported:
“[…] Legal experts, including former chief prosecutor Nazir Afzal, have warned the public that they face being sued if they make false accusations online.
He wrote on Twitter: ‘Bit of legal advice… If you name someone and get it wrong then they may sue you for defamation and you can say goodbye to everything you own. So don’t’.”
As of now, stars Nicky Campbell, Gary Lineker, Rylan Clark, and Jeremy Vine have gone online to dismiss speculations involving their names.
“Dozens of BBC hosts are paid six-figure salaries or do not currently have shows on air, prompting concerns that many of them could have their reputations unfairly tarnished by being wrongly linked to the allegations.”
