A young person in their early 20s said they felt threatened by “expletive-filled” messages received from the BBC presenter facing allegations he paid a teenager for sexually explicit photos, the broadcaster has reported.
The individual – who has no connection to the young person at the centre of The Sun’s story – met the male presenter on a dating app before their conversations moved to other platforms, according to the BBC.
The presenter revealed his identity and asked the young person not to tell anyone. The young person later posted online alluding to having had contact with a BBC presenter and hinting they might name him.
The individual said the presenter then sent a number of “threatening messages”, which the BBC says it has seen and confirmed came from the presenter’s phone nunber. The corporation said the young person felt “threatened” by the messages and “remain scared”.
The latest claims come as:
- BBC director-general Tim Davie admitted mistakes in the handling of the initial controversy and ordered a “red flag” review.
- A BBC timeline showed it made only two attempts to contact the family of the young person before The Sun story – and didn’t contact the presenter for seven weeks.
- The police asked the BBC to pause its own investigation while it decides whether to start criminal probe.
- A BBC radio host told Mr Davie: “Everyone in the building knows who it is.”
The young person in their early 20s also claimed that the presenter put them under pressure to meet up, but never did. BBC News said it had contacted the presenter at the centre of the storm via his lawyer, but had received no response to the latest allegations made by the individual.
Earlier on Tuesday, BBC director general Tim Davie admitted to mistakes in the handling of allegations that the high-profile presenter paid a teenager for explicit images from the age of 17 – conceding that the corporation had been “damaged” by the controversy.
Mr Davie said he was not satisfied that the BBC only sent a single email and made one phone call to the family of the young person at the centre of the row before The Sun ran its story on an unnamed star paying thousands of pounds for photos over three years.
BBC director-general Tim Davie under pressure to answer questions
(PA Archive)
The director-general said he had ordered a review of the “red flag” system for complaints, as he was also grilled on why the presenter had not been contacted for seven weeks after the initial complain was received on 19 May.
The BBC released a timeline of events, saying a family member of the young person first complained in person on 18 May, when they went to a BBC building.
The following day the same family member contacted BBC audience services and the details of the claims were referred to the BBC’s corporate investigations team, who assessed that the claims did not include an allegation of criminality.
The BBC said two subsequent attempts to contact the complainant via phone and email were unsuccessful and no additional attempts to contact the complainant were made after 6 June.
The Sun first contacted the BBC on 6 July about the allegations they were due to publish, which was the first time Mr Davie or any executive directors at the BBC were aware of the case. Only then was the presenter told of the allegations.
The claims made by The Sun contained new allegations, that were different from the matters being considered by BBC Corporate Investigations, Mr Davie said. “Those new allegations clearly related to potential criminal activity, criminality – that in a nutshell is the difference”.
Explaining why no contact was made with the complainant for more than a month, Mr Davie said “thousands” of complaints are made and it is “appropriate” there is an initial verification process.
BBC revealed claims by individual in early 20s that they felt threatened by presenter
(PA Wire)
Mr Davie also revealed that the Metropolitan Police had asked the BBC to pause its own investigation into the suspended presenter while Scotland Yard decides whether to push on with a criminal investigation.
Mr Davie confirmed that he had not spoken to the presenter directly – but said it was “appropriate” for a “very senior manager” to have spoken to the BBC star after The Sun approached the corporation with new claims.
Grilled by reporters at a media briefing if the BBC had asked to see the presenter’s phone or his bank statements before their own inquiries were paused, Mr Davie said it was “not right to comment”. Asked if the BBC had “ascertained” who is paying for the young person’s lawyer, Mr Davie said it wasn’t a matter for the corporation.
Mr Davie also received a grilling by BBC Radio 4’s World At One, where he was told “everyone in the building” knows the identity of the presenter at the centre of allegations.
Host Sarah Montague said: “He’s not been named. Everyone is this building knows who it is. And there’s a lot of people who you also have a duty of care presenters on air, who are having to go on air to say it’s not them … It’s not a sustainable situation, is it?”
Mr Davie said: “It is a very difficult and complex situation, and we are trying to calmly and judiciously navigate our way through quite difficult circumstances.” He added: “It is absolutely not the right thing to be doing to speculate. Some of the malicious stuff online, I would condemn.”
Talk TV’s Piers Morgan called on the accused BBC presenter to now “name and defend himself” to stop others at the broadcaster from being “tarnished”.