Connect with us

Published

on

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer is to hold talks with the BBC director-general Tim Davie on Sunday over “deeply concerning” allegations about one of its presenters.

The unnamed star is alleged to have paid a teenager more than £35,000 for sexually explicit images.

The presenter allegedly first requested images from the youth in 2020 when they were aged 17 and has made a series of payments over the years, according to The Sun.

In a statement ahead of the meeting, a Department of Culture, Media and Sport spokesperson said: “These allegations are deeply concerning.

Lucy Frazer, Secretary of State for Culture, Media, and Sport, arrives at 10 Downing Street, London, for a Cabinet meeting. Picture date: Tuesday July 4, 2023.
Image:
Culture secretary Lucy Frazer

“As a public service broadcaster in receipt of public funding, senior officials have stressed to the BBC that the allegations must be investigated urgently and sensitively, with the department kept informed.

“The culture secretary will be speaking to Tim Davie later today.”

BBC Director-General Tim Davie is pictured at BBC World Service offices in London, Britain, April 28, 2022
Image:
BBC Director-General Tim Davie

In new allegations published in The Sun on Sunday, the young person’s mother said she was “shocked” when her child showed her a screenshot of the video chat, in which the well-known presenter was sitting in his boxer shorts on a sofa at his home.

More on Bbc

She said the man appeared to be “leaning forward, getting ready for my child to perform for him.”

“My child told me, ‘I have shown things’ and this was a picture from some kind of video call,” she added.

The newspaper did not say when the alleged incident happened.

The mother also said that earlier this year she was shocked when she overheard the presenter “on the phone saying to my child: ‘I told you not to f***ing ring me’.”

No one involved has been named, but The Sun said the presenter has not been suspended. It is understood he is still being paid his six-figure salary in full.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

What we know about claims against BBC star

The newspaper said the family made a complaint on 19 May but came forward to The Sun after becoming frustrated that the man was still on air a month later.

The mother said her child told her they had also received a payment of £1,000 via PayPal in June which suggested that the “BBC hadn’t spoken to this man” in the weeks after the initial complaint.

The presenter is now off-air and the BBC has reportedly launched an investigation, although the corporation has not confirmed this.

Read more:
Everything we know about claims a BBC presenter paid teen for explicit photos

BBC stars deny being the presenter accused of paying teenager for sexually explicit photos
BBC presenter scandal is sleazy and depressing – but at the heart of this a family is suffering

Several political figures have been critical of the BBC’s handling of the allegations, with Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves telling Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme that the allegations were “deeply concerning”.

“The idea that some presenters think they act with impunity and they can get away with these sorts of things – it does call into question the ethics, the investigations, how long these things take,” she said.

“And the BBC, but also other broadcasters, do need to get a grip because we seem to lurch from one scandal to another, and more needs to be done.”

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Rapper Ghetts charged after man killed in hit-and-run

Published

on

By

Rapper Ghetts charged after man killed in hit-and-run

The rapper Ghetts has been charged after a man was killed in a hit-and-run in northeast London.

The musician, whose real name is Justin Clarke-Samuel, was charged with causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

He allegedly failed to stop after hitting a 20-year-old man in Ilford last Saturday, the Met Police said.

The 41-year-old appeared at Stratford Magistrates’ Court on Monday – the same day the man died in hospital.

The indictment is expected to change from causing serious injury to causing death by dangerous driving at the next hearing.

Ghetts was remanded into custody and is due to appear at Barkingside Magistrates’ Court on 27 October.

The police are appealing for witnesses to the crash to come forward.

Read more from Sky News:
Two charged in connection with arson attack on mosque
Furious Trump cancels ‘all trade negotiations’ with Canada

Ghetts is a grime rapper who played at Glastonbury last year and has collaborated with Ed Sheeran, Stormzy and Skepta.

He also had a role in the Netflix drama Supacell.

Last year, he received the Mobo Pioneer Award for his significant contribution to British black culture.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

‘People want you to stay in your lane’: Reese Witherspoon on her ‘deeply personal’ decision to write a novel

Published

on

By

'People want you to stay in your lane': Reese Witherspoon on her 'deeply personal' decision to write a novel

It is “pretty surreal”, Academy Award winner Reese Witherspoon admits, finding herself at the top of The New York Times bestsellers list.

When I meet the actress alongside her co-writer, best-selling author Harlan Coben, overnight the pair have learned that their thriller is now at number one.

He jokes: “I was texting her last night and saying you’ll now have to call yourself number one bestselling novelist, forget about Oscar winner!”

Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben told Katie Spencer about their novel Gone Before Goodbye
Image:
Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben told Katie Spencer about their novel Gone Before Goodbye

As one of the most successful authors in the world, Coben has sold over 80 million books to date, while for Witherspoon this is new ground.

Not content with running a hugely successful production company responsible for a string of hits, as well as one of the most successful book clubs in the world, she explains she felt compelled to give writing a try.

“People want you to stay in your lane… as a creative person I think it’s impossible to just choose one kind of life.

“Creativity is infinite and who I was as a creative person when I was 20 is very different from the person I am now at 49.”

More on Reese Witherspoon

Gone Before Goodbye, a thriller about a talented surgeon who finds herself caught up in a deadly conspiracy, is the result of Witherspoon daring to put her head above the parapet.

Witherspoon says she felt compelled to give writing a try
Image:
Witherspoon says she felt compelled to give writing a try

Coben admits he was “a little wary” at first.

“I don’t co-write novels but when she made the pitch and started talking about it, I was like ‘dang that’s good, we can do something with that’.”

While countless celebrities work with ghostwriters, Coben says: “I said to her from day one ‘it’s only going to be you and me in here… no third person in here, I don’t do that’. So every word you [read] comes from Reese and me.”

Coben has sold over 80 million books to date, while for Witherspoon this is new ground
Image:
Coben has sold over 80 million books to date, while for Witherspoon this is new ground

Witherspoon explains: “He was like ‘if we’re going to do this, it’s going to have to be at a really high level because people going to expect a lot, so our bar was really high.”

“I said to her, in the beginning, novels are like a sausage,” Coben laughs. “You might like the final taste, but you don’t want to see how it was made and Reese got to see the full sausage getting made here.”

Read more from Sky News:
Bob Vylan’s gig postponed
Tainted Love star dies
Strictly stars to quit

When it came to writing, Coben says they “fell into a rhythm right away”, working together in three-hour stints, “back and forth with a yellow legal pad – what about this? What about that?”

Coben says they 'fell into a rhythm right away'
Image:
Coben says they ‘fell into a rhythm right away’

Witherspoon says it “feels really deeply personal” to have their work now in print.

“Usually, as an actor, I walk into other people’s worlds and it’s already set up… but this was creating the whole world with Harlan and just from beginning to end feels very personal.”

While the story seems an obvious fit for being adapted to the screen, perhaps with a certain blonde actress in the leading role, Coben says that was never their intention.

“The biggest, biggest mistake novelists make when you write a book is to say ‘this would make a really great movie’. A book is a book, a movie is a movie, and we both focused on wanting this to be just a great reading experience.”

Given that their collaboration is already selling in big numbers, will the pair team up again to write a second?

Witherspoon says: “Let’s just see what people think of this one first.”

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Kim Kardashian diagnosed with brain aneurysm

Published

on

By

Kim Kardashian diagnosed with brain aneurysm

Kim Kardashian has revealed that she has been diagnosed with a brain aneurysm.

  • Footage from the latest season of The Kardashians shows the reality TV star going for an imaging scan.

The 45-year-old appears to suggest her small aneurysm may have stemmed from stress.

Brain aneurysms are relatively common, with data suggesting they affect about one in every 50 people.

In many cases, patients may be unaware that they have one – as they tend to cause few symptoms when unruptured.

Brain aneurysms are common but often go undiagnosed. iStock file pic
Image:
Brain aneurysms are common but often go undiagnosed. iStock file pic

Should an unruptured aneurysm grow to a larger size, it can cause headaches, balance problems and speech issues.

Those that burst are extremely dangerous and can prove fatal in some circumstances.

While aneurysms can emerge throughout the body, they are most typically found in the aorta, which carries blood out of the heart.

More on Kim Kardashian

Research suggests brain aneurysms are most common in adults between the ages of 30 and 60 – with women disproportionately affected.

Read more entertainment news:
Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman to leave Strictly

Bob Vylan’s Manchester gig is postponed

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

May: Eight found guilty over Kim Kardashian Paris heist

Associate professor of neurology Dr Laura Stein told Sky’s US partner NBC News: ” The most well-described risk factors include a predisposition [family history of aneurysm], high blood pressure, cigarette smoking and inflammation.”

She went on to explain that most fatal ruptured aneurysms are in the brain, killing about one in three patients.

“When it’s a blood vessel that’s in the head and it bleeds, there’s a much higher risk of having a very bad problem just because the brain is enclosed in a fixed space,” Dr Stein added.

Low-risk aneurysms are monitored by doctors for growth or abnormalities, and there are a series of potential treatment options for those considered dangerous.

Elsewhere in The Kardashians clip, Kim admitted that her ex-husband Kanye West will be in her life “no matter what” because of the four kids they share together.

Continue Reading

Trending