An unnamed BBC presenter has been suspended after being accused of paying a teenager more than £35,000 for sexually explicit photos in bombshell reports.
The male BBC presenter - who is reportedly a "household name" - made a series of payments to the young person starting when they were 17 years old.
It comes after reports that the mother of the alleged victim claims that the money given to her teenager was used to fund a drug addiction of crack cocaine - which "destroyed her child's life."
The mother alleges that the unnamed BBC presenter stripped to his underwear during a video call with her then teenage child, who is now 20, according to reports in the Mirror.
Let's take a look at the timeline of the scandal so far, including a male employee's suspension, the celebrities who have denied being the person in question, the involvement of the police and the broadcasting giant's response.
What has happened so far?
It was widely reported on Friday that a BBC presenter was facing an investigation after allegedly paying a young adult under the age of 18 a large sum of cash in return for sexually explicit images.
The mum of the alleged victim came forward to break her silence during an interview with The Sun where she says her teenager, only 17 at the time, was given £35,000 in return for explicit images.
She says the alleged victim used the money to fund a drug addiction. "One time he had sent £5,000 in one lump. The money had been in exchange for sexually explicit photographs of my child," the mother told the publication.
The mum further claims her child, now 20, allegedly went from a "happy-go-lucky" teen to a "ghost-like" addict in just a number of years.
It's believed the young person's family approached the BBC on May 19 and it is alleged that they pleaded with the corporation to beg the man to "stop sending cash".
"I blame this BBC man for destroying my child's life," they added. The messages are said to have started in 2020 and the man behind sending the images refrained from protecting his identity, as well as allegedly sending images of himself at his place of work.
The mother added: "I was shocked to see a picture of him sitting on a sofa in his house in his underwear. I immediately recognised him, he was leaning forward getting ready for my child to perform for him. My child told me, 'I have shown things' and this was a picture from some kind of video call."
When was the BBC presenter suspended?
The unnamed presenter was suspended from the BBC on Sunday afternoon. The license-payer-funded corporation said: "The BBC takes any allegations seriously and we have robust internal processes in place to proactively deal with such allegations.
"This is a complex and fast-moving set of circumstances and the BBC is working as quickly as possible to establish the facts in order to properly inform appropriate next steps. It is important that these matters are handled fairly and with care.
"We have been clear that if - at any point - new information comes to light or is provided to us, this will be acted upon appropriately and actively followed up.
"The BBC first became aware of a complaint in May. New allegations were put to us on Thursday of a different nature and in addition to our own enquiries, we have also been in touch with external authorities, in line with our protocols. We can also confirm a male member of staff has been suspended.
"We expect to be in a position to provide a further update in the coming days as the process continues. The BBC Board will continue to be kept up to date."
What well-known faces have denied being the presenter?
The allegations sparked a social media frenzy over the weekend, forcing a lot of presenters to come forward in a bid to clear their name from the rumour mill.
Rylan Clark
Rylan Clark, who previously presented Strictly It Takes Two and a BBC Radio 2 show, told his Twitter followers on Saturday morning: "Not sure why my names floating about but re that story in The Sun - that ain’t me babe. I’m currently filming a show in Italy for the BBC, so take my name out ya mouths."
Jeremy Vine
Later the same day, BBC Radio 2 presenter Jeremy Vine also took to Twitter to shut down any suggestion he is the unidentified person in The Sun's report, tweeting: "Just to say I'm very much looking forward to hosting my radio show on Monday — whoever the 'BBC Presenter' in the news is, I have the same message for you as Rylan did earlier: it certainly ain't me."
Jeremy Vine has since come out to say he would sue people who have falsely accused him of being the BBC presenter who has been suspended.
On Twitter, he said: "I do not know who Andy Plumb is, but a defamation lawyer advised me that what he did on Twitter yesterday is the quickest way to lose £20,000. I messaged Andy to that effect," before sharing a screenshot of a tweet to the account reading: "I've passed screenshots of your messages about me to a lawyer. They are seriously defamatory. They are completely and utterly untrue."
Responding to further tweets, he said: "This defamatory tweet has been logged and screenshotted and I will follow up with you next week." A second saw him say: "You repeated a defamatory lie. That's libel and I will be in touch in the coming days."
He went on to add: "This tweet is seriously defamatory of me. I have screenshotted it and the retweets and passed it to a lawyer. There is no truth WHATSOEVER in what you are saying." Mr Vine later responded to another social media user saying he would be reporting the tweets to a lawyer on Monday.
Gary Lineker
Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker also came out to deny being the unnamed host. Taking to his Twitter account on Saturday evening, the Match of the Day presenter told his followers: "Hate to disappoint the haters but it’s not me."
Nicky Campbell
Nicky Campbell appeared to have contacted the police after he was accused of being the presenter on social media. Taking to Twitter, Nicky said: "I think it’s important to take a stand. There’s just too many of these people on social media. Thanks for your support friends."
He then shared a screenshot from an account who claimed Nicky was the unnamed BBC presenter at the centre of the claims. The radio journalist also posted a pic of a response from the Metropolitan Police, thanking him for reporting a crime.
Why hasn't the suspended presenter been named?
On Sunday the Metropolitan Police confirmed the BBC has made contact with them but that there hasn't been any formal allegations.
It was initially reported the BBC initially had been in contact with the police regarding the presenter. The force confirmed: "The Met has received initial contact from the BBC in relation to this matter, but no formal referral or allegation has been made. We will require additional information before determining what further action should follow."
The allegation involves a potential crime with a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. It is a crime to take, make, share and possess indecent images of people under 18 meaning if the presenter is proven innocent, alleging they had committed such a crime could be libellous.
Further to this, until someone is arrested and then charged, they can have a reasonable expectation of privacy. Although the male presenter has now been suspended by the BBC, neither the BBC nor The Sun have confirmed the name.
In a note sent to staff, Tim Davie said: “By law, individuals are entitled to a reasonable expectation of privacy, which is making this situation more complex."
How has the BBC responded to the news?
The way the BBC is reporting on the internal matter prompted former Good Morning Britain anchor Piers Morgan to slam the publicly funded broadcaster on Sunday as he labelled the situation "ridiculous."
He quote-tweeted another Twitter user saying: "BBC host asks BBC reporter standing outside the BBC about allegations against unnamed BBC star. BBC reporter says they 'haven't been able to confirm' whether the BBC presenter has been suspended by the BBC."
BBC News has since shared an insight into how they navigate and report on stories about BBC employees and internal matters.
"With stories like this one, BBC News journalists treat the BBC in the same way as any other organisation the news service reports on," the BBC writes in their report on the suspension of the unnamed male presenter.
"And like with any other organisation, BBC News has to ask BBC management or BBC services for responses and contact the BBC press office for official statements.
"Occasionally BBC journalists approach senior managers for unplanned interviews - known as "doorsteps" in the news business."
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