BBC presenter scandal – latest: Young person says claims are ‘rubbish’ in letter from lawyers

The teenager at the centre of the BBC controversy has said nothing inappropriate or unlawful happened with the unnamed male presenter and that the allegations were ‘rubbish.’ ‘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’, the lawyer writes in the letter, the BBC reports. Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Police has confirmed that ‘there is no investigation at this time’ regarding allegations that the presenter paid a teenager around £35,000 for sexually explicit images. ‘Detectives from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command met with representatives from the BBC on the morning of July 10. The meeting took place virtually’, a statement from the Met read. ‘They are assessing the information discussed at the meeting and further enquiries are taking place to establish whether there is evidence of a criminal offence being committed.’ Since the publication of the claims in The Sun last week, the presenter allegedly has made panicked phone calls to the youngster and asked ‘What have you done?’. It has also been claimed he asked the now 20-year-old to get their mother to ‘stop the investigation’. Key Points BBC presenter suspended Top BBC presenter ‘stripped to underwear in video call with teen he paid for explicit pictures’ Stars speak out ‘after top presenter paid teen for explicit photos’ BBC has ‘very serious questions’ to answer over presenter in sexual image scandal Mother of victim blames BBC presenter for turning child into ‘ghost-like crack addict’ Allegations were ‘rubbish’, teenager’s lawyer says in letter to BBC Allegations were ‘rubbish’, teenager’s lawyer says in letter to BBC Monday 10 July 2023 18:12 , Eleanor Noyce The teenager at the centre of the BBC controversy has said nothing inappropriate or unlawful happened with the unnamed male presenter and that the allegations were ‘rubbish’, their lawyer has said in a letter to the BBC. ‘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’, the lawyer writes in the letter, the BBC reports. 03:00 , Eleanor Noyce The BBC has been hit by several scandals involving high-profile stars over the years. The broadcaster’s reputation has been rocked by a series of wrongdoings which have raised questions about its culture and practices, including allegations of sexual abuse and fraud. After the suspension of an unnamed BBC presenter amid claims he paid a teenager for sexually explicit photographs, the PA news agency looks at the scandals associated with the corporation over the years: Voices: ‘Trial by Twitter’ for those named in the BBC scandal is desperately unfair – and dangerous 02:00 , Eleanor Noyce ‘It doesn’t take very long to browse social media and find out who the BBC ‘presenter’ in the news is not. ‘It’s not Gary Lineker, it’s not Rylan Clark, it’s not Jeremy Vine, it’s not Nicky Campbell and it’s not any of the other people who’ve felt it necessary to make a denial. ‘All have been forced, almost blackmailed, into this by the keyboard sleuths of Twitter calling them a ‘nonce’, the accumulated malign speculation helpfully collated by suitable hashtags. Suddenly, we’ve all acquired the brilliant digital forensic skills of Colleen Rooney.’ This doesn’t feel very much like a lawful process, let alone natural justice, for whoever it is. It feels like a modern, digital version of lynching – and any celebrity will do, writes Sean O’Grady: ‘Trial by Twitter’ of BBC presenters is unfair – and dangerous | Sean O’Grady What are the allegations against BBC presenter and why hasn’t he been named? 01:00 , Eleanor Noyce A BBC presenter allegedly paid tens of thousands of pounds to a teenager for explicit images , according to a report published on Friday. The family of the teenager reportedly complained to the BBC in May but the broadcaster said that ‘new allegations were put to us on Thursday of a different nature’, according to the Sun . BBC boss Tim Davie was summoned for crisis talks on Sunday as it emerged that the company had known of the allegations against the star presenter for almost two months now. What are the allegations against BBC presenter and why hasn’t he been named? Tuesday 11 July 2023 00:01 , Eleanor Noyce 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 after The 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 reports: Monday 10 July 2023 23:00 , Eleanor Noyce 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. However, the young person at the centre of the controversy said nothing inappropriate or unlawful happened. Here is a timeline of the events surrounding the emergence and fallout from the allegations. Cormac Pearson reports: ‘Dangerous absence of facts’ in presenter story, says former BBC News exec Monday 10 July 2023 21:41 , Eleanor Noyce Former BBC News executive Tim Luckhurst has warned of a ‘dangerous absence of facts’ in the BBC presenter story. ‘This story has been marked from the beginning by a dangerous absence of facts, at every stage there have been more questions than answers and that remains the case tonight’, Mr Luckhurst told the BBC. ‘The emphasis has shifted – now it seems that the parents may have raised concerns with The Sun concerns which did not directly reflect the concerns of their child. ‘But at no stage in this story have we seen the full details that The Sun purports to have. ‘I am beginning to suspect that the problem is that the facts are not entirely clear to The Sun, they’re not clear to the BBC either.’ Young person and mother estranged, lawyer claims in letter Monday 10 July 2023 21:18 , Eleanor Noyce Revealing more details from the letter penned by the young person’s lawyer, the BBC has reported that they and their mother are estranged. Criticising both The Sun and the BBC for failing to contact their client, the lawyer further claims that the reporting has amounted to an invasion of privacy. ‘Nobody from The Sun newspaper appears to have made any attempt to contact our client prior to the publication of the allegations on Friday 6 July’, the lawyer writes. Presenter scandal ‘big moment for British tabloid journalism’, senior broadcaster says Monday 10 July 2023 21:00 , Eleanor Noyce Former ITN chief executive Stewart Purvis has said the allegations against the unnamed BBC presenter mark a ‘big moment for British tabloid journalism.’ ‘I had been surprised all along that The Sun never showed any paper evidence… no paper trail such as a bank statement to support their allegations. But they are standing by their journalism’, Mr Purvis told Sky News. ‘This is actually a pretty big moment for British tabloid journalism, as much as it for the BBC’, he added, noting that those who have made allegations via social media might ‘pause for thought.’ ‘The presenter has got into their head’, says teenager’s parents as they stand by claims Monday 10 July 2023 20:51 , Eleanor Noyce The parents of a teenager who was allegedly paid around £35,000 for sexually explicit images by a BBC presenter have stood by their claims, The Sun reports. ‘It is sad but we stand by our account and we hope they get the help they need’, the teenager’s mother told The Sun. ‘We did this to help – and the presenter has got into their head. How did they afford a lawyer? We are so sad.’ ‘It’s not true’, their stepfather added, remarking that he was ‘disappointed’ they had made a statement via their lawyer which said the claims were ‘rubbish.’ ‘Why didn’t they print the denial?’, asks reporter of The Sun following lawyer’s claim allegations are ‘rubbish’ Monday 10 July 2023 19:40 , Eleanor Noyce Following claims from the teenager’s lawyer in a letter to the BBC that the allegations are ‘rubbish’, a crime and policing commentator has raised questions over The Sun’s reporting. ‘It raises the question now, certainly for The Sun newspaper, if it’s correct that they [the teenager’s lawyer] issued a denial on Friday…why didn’t it print that denial?’, Danny Shaw told LBC. ‘Even if it went ahead with the story because it felt the story was justified and accurate and so on, it still should’ve printed a denial.’ ‘The situation at the moment is really great for The Sun’, says ex-editor Monday 10 July 2023 18:49 , Eleanor Noyce ‘The situation at The Sun at the moment is they’re very happy, because they have the BBC and Tim Davie, the director general, where they want that institution, which is in trouble’, former editor of The Sun, David Yelland said on The News Agents podcast. ‘You have to remember that The Sun and most of the rest of what was Fleet Street has an ideological and commercial hatred of the BBC. So from Victoria Newton’s point of view, who is the editor of The Sun at the moment, she is a heroine in her own company at the moment with Rupert Murdoch and everybody else because the BBC is in the dock’, Mr Yelland added. ‘So the situation at the moment is really great for The Sun. They don’t need to name. ‘As soon as the name comes out and more facts come out, it may be the story becomes a different kind of story, so actually it’s not in The Sun’s interest necessarily to name the person, for that reason.’ Lawyer for youngster at centre of BBC presenter sex case says ‘nothing inappropriate happened’ Monday 10 July 2023 18:34 , Eleanor Noyce The teenager at the centre of the BBC presenter scandal has said nothing inappropriate or unlawful happened with the unnamed star accused of paying them £35,000 for sexually explicit images . 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. The claim comes hours after the Metropolitan Police confirmed ‘there is no investigation at this time’ following a weekend of online speculation over the identity of the male star, believed to be a household name. Holly Evans has the full story: Lawyer for youngster at centre of BBC presenter sex case says claims are ‘rubbish’ Parents’ complaint ‘was not acted upon by the BBC’, The Sun claims Monday 10 July 2023 18:27 , Eleanor Noyce Following allegations that a BBC presenter paid tens of thousands of pounds to a teenager for explicit images, The Sun has claimed that their parents’ complaint ‘was not acted upon by the BBC.’ A spokesperson for The Sun said: ‘We have reported a story about two very concerned parents who made a complaint to the BBC about the behaviour of a presenter and the welfare of their child. ‘Their complaint was not acted upon by the BBC. We have seen evidence that supports their concerns. It’s now for the BBC to properly investigate.’ What are the allegations against BBC presenter and why hasn’t he been named? Monday 10 July 2023 17:30 , Holly Evans A BBC presenter allegedly paid tens of thousands of pounds to a teenager for explicit images , according to a report published on Friday. The family of the teenager reportedly complained to the BBC in May but the broadcaster said that ‘new allegations were put to us on Thursday of a different nature’, according to the Sun . BBC boss Tim Davie was summoned for crisis talks on Sunday as it emerged that the company had known of the allegations against the star presenter for almost two months now. The BBC confirmed that the male presenter has been suspended and taken off air for the coming days. What are the allegations against BBC presenter and why hasn’t he been named? Eamonn Holmes says BBC are ‘prolonging the inevitable’ Monday 10 July 2023 17:05 , Holly Evans Speaking on GB News, he said: ‘I’m not sure exactly why the presenter hasn’t been named yet. ‘I’m not sure whose purpose that serves because sure as heck, that name will be out in the next couple of days. ‘I mean, they’re only just prolonging the inevitable on this.’ He added: ‘The Sun newspaper has a direct relationship with the family involved so they know everything that is going on. ‘And they believe that they have the presenter bang to rights on this one, there’s no getting out of it.’ Eamonn Holmes told GB News that the BBC are ‘prolonging the inevitable’ by avoiding naming the presenter (Kirsty O’Connor/ PA) (PA Arc