EXCLUSIVE: BBC News Star Huw Edwards is the BBC Presenter at Centre of £35,000 Sex Pic Allegations
HUW Edwards is the BBC presenter who is alleged to have paid £35,000 for explicit pictures from a teenager, Politicalite can exclusively reveal. The BBC News at Ten star and royal commentator is also at the centre of additional allegations of sending “threatening messages” to a 20-year-old which the BBC says it has seen and confirmed came from a phone number belonging to the presenter.
The BBC said the young person felt “threatened” by the messages and “remains scared”. BBC News said it had contacted the presenter via his lawyer but had received no response to the allegations. The fresh allegations add further pressure for the BBC as it deals with the fallout from separate claims made against the male presenter and first reported by The Sun newspaper at the weekend.
According to the BBC, the presenter at the centre of the new allegations met the young person on a dating app before their conversations moved to other platforms. He then revealed his identity and asked the young person not to tell anyone, BBC News reported. The young person later posted online alluding to having had contact with the presenter and hinted they might name him.
He then allegedly sent a number of “threatening messages”, which the BBC says it has seen and confirmed came from a phone number belonging to the presenter. The BBC said the young person felt “threatened” by the messages and “remains scared”.
The Sun first made allegations its initial allegations on Saturday about the unnamed presenter in which it says a young person – who the broadcaster said is not connected to the teenager in the BBC report – was paid around £35,000 over three years, from the age of 17, for explicit images.
Earlier, director-general Tim Davie said he has ordered a review to “assess how some complaints are red flagged up the organisation”. Mr Davie said he was first informed of the allegations seven weeks after the family first complained about the presenter to the BBC when the newspaper said it would be publishing its front page story.
He told reporters this was because there was no response to the attempts to make contact and investigators could not verify the claims. The corporation has also been asked to pause its internal investigation into the allegations “while the police scope future work” following a meeting with the Metropolitan Police.
