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Vanessa Feltz has spoken out in response to BBC Director-General Tim Davie’s allegation that he has had no communication with the broadcaster accused of bribing a minor for pornographic photos.
On Tuesday, the CEO of the public broadcaster appeared in a pre-planned media briefing, which was dominated by questions about the suspended presenter and the firm’s handling of the charges.
Davie, 56, said at the meeting that he had not ‘personally’ talked to the accused presenter since the allegations were made public, and that the communication was handled by a’senior management’.
Vanessa, 61, and Tom Swarbrick joined hosts Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond on Wednesday’s This Morning to discuss the briefing as well as the ongoing issue.
‘Whoever this is,’ Dermot, 50, began. ‘The fact that the director-general still hasn’t spoken to them, I find that….’
‘Astounding,’ Vanessa offered.
She later continued: ‘I really am astounded that the director-general didn’t simply make a call to the person concerned and say, “Please come to my office. Let’s talk about what you have or haven’t done.”
‘You would have thought that would be call number one on day number one, wouldn’t you?’
The young person at the core of the dispute, who the broadcaster is accused of paying £35,000 for sexual photographs, claimed through attorneys that nothing wrong or illegal occurred with the BBC personality.
However, their mother, who made the charges in The Sun last week, has stood by them, and a spokeswoman for the magazine has stated that it is now ‘for the BBC to fully investigate.’
More shocking allegations have been levelled against the anonymous broadcaster, with a second young person saying he sent them ‘threatening’ texts and a third claiming he violated lockdown regulations in order to meet them.
The BBC initiated an inquiry into the accusations before Met Police placed it on ‘hold’ to allow officers to’scope future work.’
A spokesperson for the force said it continues to make an ‘assessment to establish whether there is evidence of a criminal offence being committed’ and ‘there remains no police investigation at this time.’
Several broadcasters, notably Jeremy Vine and Piers Morgan, have been calling for the presenter’s identity to be revealed.
This Morning airs from 10am weekdays on ITV.
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