BBC star 'extremely angry' following sex pic allegation, ex-colleague claims
Jon Sopel commented about how the unnamed BBC presenter is feeling on The News Agents podcast
The News Agents
The unnamed BBC presenter at the heart of the broadcaster’s latest scandal is “extremely angry” about the multiple allegations levied against him, a former colleague has claimed.
Jon Sopel, who worked at the BBC for 16 years, warned the star is increasingly “convinced” that The Sun is trying to “dig and find new dirt” in a bid to damage his reputation.
Speaking on his ‘The News Agents’ podcast, the 64-year-old said: “A number of people have been in touch with the presenter to say they feel righteous fury over the way The Sun has covered this and it is fair to say the presenter at the heart of this is also extremely angry over a lot of The Sun coverage.”
Sopel added: “The person at the centre of this … is getting some support not just from the world of broadcast but from outside that as well.
BBC Broadcasting HousePA“Surely, the onus has to be on The Sun now … put up or shut up - show us what you’ve got.”
Sopel’s comments come as The Sun revealed it will hand over its evidence to the BBC to aid its investigation of the situation.
The tabloid last week reported that the BBC star, who was suspended by the broadcaster on Sunday, paid £35,000 for sexually explicit images of a youth over a three-year period.
The parents of the recipient also claimed the young person was just 17 when the relationship started.
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BBC director-general Tim DaviePAHowever, a lawyer for the young person appeared to refute the allegations on Monday.
They insisted nothing illegal had happened, adding the parents’ claims were “rubbish”.
Despite clear discrepancies, three more young people have come forward claiming they have been involved with the unnamed presenter.
The BBC star allegedly sent threatening messages to a young person in their early 20s after matching on a dating app.
The parents of a teenager involved in a BBC presenter scandal claim they had spoken out to protect their childPAThe young person received the messages after alluding to having had contact with the presenter and hinting about outing them.
Another person, aged 23, claimed the presenter broke coronavirus restrictions to meet them during national lockdown in February 2021.
A then-17-year-old also accused the presenter of sending “creepy” messages over Instagram in October 2018.
The messages supposedly contained love heart emojis and kisses.
The Metropolitan Police met with representatives from the BBC earlier today to assess the informationPAThe BBC approached the Metropolitan Police about the situation on Monday.
Scotland Yard is reviewing the claims to “establish whether there is evidence of a criminal offence being committed” after saying “no criminality was identified” following contact with the first youth’s family in April.
The Metropolitan Police also asked the BBC to suspend its internal investigation into the matter.