11 July 2023 , 13:10
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BBC director-general Tim Davie has revealed he hasn't spoken to the corporation's unnamed presenter following claims he paid a teenager for sexually explicit images.
It has been reported over the weekend that an unnamed presenter, who has since been suspended, paid a teen £35,000 for sexually explicit photographs over a period of three years from the age of 17.
After the BBC released a new statement today, along with a timeline of 'key events' of the investigation and scandal. In the statement, they confirmed they were asked by the Metropolitan Police to pause their investigation "while the police scope future work" following a meeting between the BBC and police.
Tim Davie faced a grilling in a press conference held earlier today, in which the director-general answered questions about the scandal. The conference was previously arranged to discuss the BBC presenters' pay packets.
Following the conference, the director-general appeared on BBC Radio 4 where he faced more questions from journalist Sarah Montague over the BBC's handling of the scandal.
BBC stars who've denied being presenter accused of paying teen for explicit pics
In the radio interview, the BBC boss revealed he had not personally spoken to the unnamed presenter following the allegations. He also refused to answer if the unnamed TV star had 'offered a resignation' in light of the claims.
When asked if Tim had spoken to the presenter personally, he said: "Personally? No. He's been spoken to by a senior manager."
And, when asked if the unnamed TV host had offered his resignation Tim responded: "Again, that is a matter that I think we have to respect the privacy of an employee."
It comes as the BBC released a new statement today amid the ongoing BBC presenter scandal. It read: "Yesterday, 10 July, the BBC’s Corporate Investigations Team had a meeting with the Metropolitan Police in relation to information provided to the BBC by The Sun newspaper on Thursday 6 July.
"As a result of this meeting, the BBC has been asked to pause its investigations into the allegations while the Police scope future work.
"We know that questions have been asked about how the complaint was initially managed, so today we have published an update that sets out key dates and some additional information that we are currently able to share.
"The BBC has processes and protocols for receiving information and managing complaints when they are first made. We always take these matters extremely seriously and seek to manage them with the appropriate duty of care.
"The events of recent days have shown how complex and challenging these kinds of cases can be and how vital it is that they are handled with the utmost diligence and care. There will, of course, be lessons to be learned following this exercise.
"Although the current issues has not yet been fully resolved, the Director-General has asked Leigh Tavaziva, the BBC’s Group Chief Operating Officer, to assess whether our protocols and procedures are appropriate in light of this case, and report to the BBC Board on this in due course."Following the meeting, the Met Police released a statement and confirmed they were undertaking further enquiries, but added there was no investigation under way."