Piers Morgan blasts ‘ridiculous’ BBC coverage of presenter accused of paying teen for sexual pictures as star SUSPENDED
PIERS Morgan has blasted the BBC's "ridiculous" coverage of a presenter accused of paying a teen for sexual pictures - with the star now suspended.
The well-known presenter allegedly gave a youngster more than £35,000 for sordid images in a scandal that has rocked the national broadcaster.
The BBC this afternoon confirmed the man has now been suspended, and that it has been in touch with the police.
Met Police has also confirmed that they have been contacted over the allegations.
Before the suspension was announced, TalkTV pundit Piers shared a Tweet about the BBC's coverage of The Sun's bombshell claims.
The post read: "BBC host asks BBC reporter standing outside the BBC about allegations against unnamed BBC star.
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"BBC reporter says they 'haven't been able to confirm' whether the BBC presenter has been suspended by the BBC."
Piers blasted the BBC's reporting about their own presenter as "ridiculous".
Latest on BBC sex probe:
- BBC star who 'paid teen for sex pics' could face years in prison
- Teen's mum claims star stripped to his pants for call
- 8 questions BBC refused to answer about star taken off air
- Star 'partied with BBC bosses AFTER complaint made'
- Gary Lineker, Rylan Clark & Jeremy Vine all deny being the star
- The presenter allegedly gave the teen £35k for sordid images
- Mum blames BBC man for giving money for drugs to her child
- BBC 'is getting calls from MORE members of public about the behaviour of the presenter'
- A cop who exposed paedophile BBC star Jimmy Savile said the broadcaster MUST name the presenter
- Met Police has been contacted by the BBC
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The Corporation has faced criticism for its handling of the claims after a complaint was made on May 19.
Tory MP Caroline Dinenage told The Sun on Sunday: “The BBC clearly has some very serious questions to answer.”
Former Home Secretary Priti Patel added: “The allegations, carried by The Sun, are absolutely horrendous.
“The BBC owes an explanation to the country who funded it and placed their trust in it.
“And the Corporation must cooperate with the police if they are contacted to investigate.”
The Sun exclusively revealed that the presenter was taken off air - and that the teen's mum saw images of the star sitting on his sofa in his underpants.
The BBC this afternoon confirmed the man has now been suspended as a result.
It said in a statement: “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.
"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.”
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A Met Police spokesperson said: "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."