Nicky Campbell has made a crime report to the police after being falsely accused of being the male BBC presenter who allegedly paid a vulnerable teenager for sexually explicit images.
Campbell said he had had a “distressing weekend” after being falsely named as the household name who it is claimed paid £35,000 over three years to a young person who used the money to fund their crack cocaine habit.
Neither the Sun, which broke the story, nor the BBC have named the presenter in question, leading to speculation on social media as to his identity.
Over the weekend, Campbell posted a screengrab on Twitter of a tweet that contained a photograph of him and the words: “This is the BBC host who paid [a] teenager for sexually explicit photos,” and a screengrab of the Metropolitan police’s website, saying: “Thank you for contacting the Metropolitan police service to report your crime.”
On Monday, Campbell told listeners to his BBC Radio 5 Live programme: “Worse things happen at sea, as they say, but it was a distressing weekend – I can’t deny it – for me and others falsely named. Today I’m having further conversations with the police in terms of malicious communications and with lawyers in terms of defamation.”
Under the Malicious Communications Act, it is an offence to send an electronic communication that is grossly offensive or that is false and known or believed to be false by the sender if the sender’s purpose is to cause distress or anxiety to the recipient. Defamation is a civil action that, if proved, leads to the payment of damages to the victim.
The Twitter account from which the offending message originated has since been deleted.
In his Twitter post highlighting the accusation, Campbell 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.”
Campbell’s fellow BBC presenter Jeremy Vine indicated that he too was taking legal action. Responding to a now-deleted tweet, he wrote: “I’ve passed screenshots [of] your messages about me to a lawyer. They are seriously defamatory. They are completely and utterly untrue.” In a further tweet, he said: “I let loads of stuff go on here – but not this. I’ll be in touch soon.”
Other BBC presenters have posted on social media to quash speculation.
Gary Lineker tweeted: “Hate to disappoint the haters but it’s not me.”
Rylan Clark wrote: “Not sure why my name’s 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.”
The BBC has confirmed that the staff member in question has been suspended. The corporation’s director general, Tim Davie, said he was “wholly condemning the unsubstantiated rumours being made on the internet about some of our presenting talent”.
