A disaster on the BBC over the conduct of a senior employees member deepened on Tuesday with a report {that a} second individual had come ahead with allegations that the unnamed male employees member had despatched indignant and abusive messages to the individual through a relationship app.
The BBC reported that the younger individual, whom it didn’t establish, felt threatened by “abusive, expletive-filled messages,” which adopted unsuccessful efforts by the employees member to satisfy with this individual and the individual’s subsequent suggestion about presumably publicly naming him.
The identical employees member confronted allegations of paying tens of hundreds of kilos to a unique younger individual in trade for sexually specific images. The BBC stated it had paused its investigation into these accusations on the request of the Metropolitan Police, which was additionally trying into the matter.
With the allegations piling up, however with many questions nonetheless unanswered, the BBC gave the impression to be underneath siege. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, on his strategy to a NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, stated the studies of funds by the employees member had been “surprising and regarding” and referred to as for a swift, vigorous investigation.
The BBC’s director common, Tim Davie, additionally confronted rising strain to clarify why the company had waited seven weeks after the preliminary criticism was lodged in Might concerning the broadcaster’s habits earlier than confronting him or taking different motion. On Sunday, the BBC stated it had suspended the employees member and referred to as within the police.
Mr. Davie stated the preliminary allegations, made by the mom of {the teenager} stated to have been paid for specific images, had been taken very significantly by the BBC, although there was a query about whether or not there had been any felony conduct.
However the complaints weren’t relayed to him or different high BBC managers till late final week, he stated, after they had been about to be reported by a London tabloid, The Solar. He stated he had not but spoken to the employees member.
The brand new allegation was reported by the BBC’s personal reporters on Tuesday afternoon. They stated they’d reviewed the messages on the individual’s cellphone and verified that they got here from a cellphone belonging to the employees member. The BBC stated it had not been in a position to attain the employees member or his lawyer for a remark.
Mr. Davie acknowledged that the lurid allegations had tarnished the fame of Britain’s public broadcaster, which has already discovered itself repeatedly within the political cross-hairs over the actions and statements of its on-air personalities.
“These are clearly damaging to the BBC,” Mr. Davie stated in an interview with BBC Radio 4. “It’s not scenario.”
The BBC described the suspended employees member because the equal of a information anchor, the host of a information present or different on-air character. Though the BBC has not disclosed the individual’s identification, that has not stopped rampant hypothesis on-line, which has compelled different BBC figures to take to social media to disclaim that they had been the goal of the allegations.
Among the many questions swirling across the BBC are the reliability of The Solar’s report that the employees member paid {the teenager} greater than £35,000, or virtually $45,000, for specific photos over a interval of a number of years that started when the individual was 17.
Underneath British legislation, the age of consent is 16, however it’s a crime to take, make, share or possess indecent photos of anybody underneath 18.
On Monday, the BBC reported {that a} lawyer for {the teenager} stated in a letter to the broadcaster that the allegations in The Solar had been “garbage,” suggesting there was a rift between {the teenager} and {the teenager}’s dad and mom.
The lawyer for {the teenager} stated that “nothing inappropriate or illegal has taken place between our shopper and the BBC character,” in line with the broadcaster. Its reporters didn’t establish the lawyer, and Mr. Davie stated on Tuesday that he didn’t know if the employees member was paying the authorized charges for the younger individual.
The Solar, owned by Rupert Murdoch, has stood by its story, accusing the BBC of suggesting that it was the fault of {the teenager}’s dad and mom for not understanding how prolonged the method of coping with complaints may very well be.
“Their criticism was not acted upon by the BBC,” a spokeswoman for The Solar stated on Monday. “We have now seen proof that helps their issues. It’s now for the BBC to correctly examine.”
