Jul 9, 2023 at 11:59 am BST
Updated 24 minutes ago
Culture Minister Lucy Frazer has held urgent talks with the BBC’s director-general after a presenter was accused of paying a teenager for sexually explicit photos.
Tim Davie assured her the company was investigating the allegations “quickly and sensitively”, the minister said.
The newspaper said that the moderator’s name was not given for legal reasons.
The BBC also hasn’t revealed the presenter’s name, but says he won’t be on the air anytime soon. It is not yet known if there has been a formal suspension.
“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,” Ms Frazer said on Twitter, adding that she would be kept informed.
Speaking to Sunday’s The Sun, the youngster’s mother – who the Sun says was 17 when the presenter’s payments began – said her child used the money to fund a crack-cocaine addiction.
She said if the alleged payments continued, her child – now 20 years old – would “end up dead”. An amount of £35,000 was reportedly paid.
She also claimed that a picture of the presenter in her underwear, reported by The Sun on Saturday, was taken during a video call with her child.
After reportedly alerting the BBC to their concerns on May 19, the family said they were frustrated when the presenter stayed on the air and then decided to contact the Sun.
They made it clear they didn’t want payment for the story, the newspaper reported.
Following the initial Sun report, a number of BBC presenters took to social media to deny they were the star in question, including Rylan Clark, Jeremy Vine, Nicky Campbell and Gary Lineker.
Radio 5 Live’s Mr Campbell, tweeted that he reported an anonymous Twitter account to the police for a post claiming he was the moderator.
Concerns have been raised about the BBC’s complaints procedure – particularly the steps taken to question the unnamed presenter and open further investigations.
video caption,
Rachel Reeves: BBC ‘must clean up’
Earlier on Sunday, several politicians said the BBC – which says it takes all allegations “very seriously” – has questions to answer.
Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves called on the company to “put its order in order” while Tory Secretary Victoria Atkins called for swift action.
Ms Reeves told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg program that if the reports were true and the presenter stayed on the air for weeks after the complaint was made, “that’s not good enough”.
“The BBC needs to speed up their processes,” she said, urging the BBC “to get more clarity now on what on earth happened in this case and what they are doing to resolve the issue.”
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With stories like this, BBC News journalists treat the BBC the same as any other organization covered by the news service.
And like any other organisation, BBC News must seek answers from BBC management or the BBC services and contact the BBC press office for official comments.
Occasionally, BBC journalists turn to senior managers – also known in the news industry as ‘doorsteps’ – for unscheduled interviews.
They are also sometimes offered interviews with management – like this one with Mr Davie on the Gary Lineker dispute.
And when that happens, they know they’ll be scrutinized inside and outside the BBC for how well they hold their boss accountable.
Conservative Minister Victoria Atkins described the allegations as “very, very serious” and said the BBC must act “quickly” while respecting the procedures “which it claims it has in place”.
She told Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday that at the heart of this matter is a “young person … who is going to feel all sorts of emotions,” and urged people to take these into account when talking about or reporting on it.
Also on the show, veteran broadcaster Stewart Purvis – former ITN boss – said the saga could hurt the BBC’s quest to be known as the ‘trusted broadcaster in the country’.
When asked what he would do if he worked for the company, Mr Purvis said bosses should bring together people “who know what they’re doing”.
“You need staff, you need lawyers, you need communications people, you need the supervisors of the person being examined,” he said.
“You have to keep in mind that every single email you send each other will be subject to scrutiny and will eventually become public. So the pressure on the BBC’s leadership is enormous.”
A BBC press office spokesman said on Friday: “We take all allegations very seriously and have processes in place to deal with them proactively.”
“If we receive information in the process that requires further investigation or investigation, we will take appropriate action. This includes actively trying to speak to those who have contacted us for more details and an understanding of the situation.”
“If we don’t get a response to our attempts or no further contact, it may limit our ability to move things forward, but that doesn’t mean our inquiries will stop.”
“If at any time new information comes to light or is transmitted – including via newspapers – it will be reacted to according to the internal processes.”
No further comment has been made since then and BBC News has contacted the press office for an update.
BBC News reports on the company as a whole impartially and does not receive information about it before other news outlets.