Jon Sopel has branded comments from Lee Anderson in regards to the BBC scandal “moronic” as the story continues to lapped up by the tabloid media.
The young person at the centre of the BBC controversy has said nothing inappropriate or unlawful happened with the unnamed presenter and the allegations are “rubbish” in the latest shocking developments.
A male member of BBC staff has been suspended after The Sun newspaper reported he paid a young person around £35,000 over three years, from the age of 17, for explicit images.
In a letter reported by BBC News At Six, the young person said via a lawyer: “For the avoidance of doubt, nothing inappropriate or unlawful has taken place between our client and the BBC personality and the allegations reported in The Sun newspaper are ‘rubbish’.”
But that hasn’t stopped the tabloid media from lapping the story up.
The Daily Mail today reported that one-in-six people know who the scandal-hit BBC star is in what looks like a straw poll (which means five-in-six don’t).
While The Sun tried to play the hero by saying they’re only trying to help save a “vulnerable addict child”.
Lee Anderson, meanwhile, jumped on the bandwagon, branding the BBC a “safe haven for perverts” and demanding the licence fee be scrapped in the wake of the latest scandal.
Jon Sopel, free from rules on impartiality, branded the comments “moronic and offensive”.
Related: Pressure mounts on BBC as it deals with presenter explicit photo claims
