12 July 2023 , 09:11
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BBC stars have offered their support to the "angry" presenter who has been hit with accusations of paying a teenager for sexually explicit images.
In recent days, the corporation has come under fire after it emerged it took them several weeks to look into complaints filed by the person's concerned mother and stepfather.
Now, a string of BBC stars are said to have been rallying around the presenter who is said to be "angry" with the way the story has since emerged after it broke last week.
Following the allegations coming to light, a string of people have come forward and claimed they experienced inappropriate behaviour from the unnamed broadcaster.
Now, Jon Sopel has spoken out and stated that several names have been in touch with the person to express their fury.
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Speaking on The News Agents podcast, the broadcaster 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 that the presenter at the heart of this is also extremely angry over a lot of The Sun coverage and is convinced they're trying to dig and find new dirt to harm this particular person's reputation.
"The person at the centre of this - you can't imagine what a maelstrom it must be - is getting some support from across the world of broadcast but from outside that as well."
Reports claim that the present in question is alleged to have breached the strict coronavirus rules during the third national lockdown across the UK in a bid to slow the spread of the virus.
A male presenter has since been suspended by the tax-payer funded corporation after it emerged he is said to have sent a person, who he started conversing with when they were just 17, £35,000 over the course of three years for explicit images.
Yesterday, the BBC said that the corporation "takes these matters extremely seriously" as it released a timeline into how the original complaint was managed.
BBC boss Tim Davie also spoke about the period of time it took the network to investigate the allegations, saying: "I think it's right and fair-minded that they [investigators] should make contact with the individual who made that initial allegation to audience services, get some verification and talk to that person and understand exactly what they're dealing with before they raise that with an individual [presenter]."
The BBC have now paused their investigations while the Metropolitan Police look into the allegations that a presenter paid for explicit images and will consider whether a criminal investigation will be launched.