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The BBC is facing increasing pressure after fresh allegations were made against an unnamed presenter.

The star was suspended over the weekend after The Sun claimed that he had paid tens of thousands of pounds to a young person in exchange for sexually explicit photographs.

But on Tuesday, three other allegations emerged, with BBC host Jeremy Vine saying that he believes the presenter involved “should now come forward publicly”.

BBC presenter latest: Star faces new set of claims

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Questions BBC haven’t answered

COVID rule-breaking allegations

According to The Sun, a 23-year-old has now claimed that the celebrity broke lockdown rules to meet them during the pandemic in February 2021.

The star allegedly travelled to the person’s home at a time when COVID restrictions prevented people from meeting anyone outside their household or bubble.

The newspaper said it had seen messages suggesting the presenter sent cash and asked for a picture – and was sent a semi-naked photo.

“I was quite shocked that he broke the rules to come and meet me because of who he is. I was just a random person online,” the 23-year-old said.

Three payments were allegedly made to their PayPal account – £200 on the day of the visit, alongside two other transactions of £200 and £250.

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Online impact of BBC allegations

Conversation ‘initiated on Instagram’

Separately, The Sun has also published messages that were allegedly sent to a 17-year-old after a conversation was initiated on Instagram in October 2018.

The paper said the messages contained love heart emojis and kisses.

The person, now 22, was quoted as saying: “Looking back now it does seem creepy because he was messaging me when I was still at school.”

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Did BBC handle complaints correctly?

Complainant claims they felt ‘threatened’

Earlier on Tuesday, a person in their early 20s had become the second to come forward with a complaint about the presenter.

Speaking to BBC News, they said they had felt threatened by the unnamed star.

It is alleged that they were contacted anonymously by the man on a dating app – and were reportedly pressured to meet up but never did.

When the person hinted online that they might name the presenter, they were sent abusive, expletive-filled messages, the BBC said.

The broadcaster reported it had seen “a number of threatening messages” and had verified they had been sent from a phone number belonging to the presenter.

The complainant told the BBC they had been scared by the power the presenter held and the threats in the messages had frightened them.

BBC News said it had contacted the unnamed star via his lawyer but had received no response to these allegations.

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PM: BBC allegations are ‘shocking’

BBC controversy deepens

The scandal at the broadcaster began when a mother and stepfather claimed that the presenter had paid £35,000 to their child, who reportedly used the money to fund a crack cocaine habit.

The claims apparently date back to 2020, when the young person was 17.

They are now 20 years old – and on Monday, their lawyer branded the claims as “rubbish” and insisted “nothing inappropriate” had happened with the presenter.

However, their parents said they stood by their account, and went on to claim “the presenter has got into their head”.

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BBC boss ‘not spoken to accused presenter’

Police identified ‘no criminality’

Yesterday, the BBC admitted it did not put allegations about the first young person to the presenter until seven weeks after they were first raised.

Meanwhile, a police force said it was contacted by the parents of the teenager in April.

The force said “no criminality was identified” initially, however it has since met with the Metropolitan Police and the BBC.

A statement said: “As a result of recent developments, further inquiries are ongoing to establish whether there is evidence of a criminal offence.”

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A spokesperson for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak urged “anyone who has been a victim in the nature of these allegations” to “come forward to ensure that they are supported and their claims looked into”.

On Tuesday, the BBC released its own timeline of events in how allegations about the first young person were dealt with.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed it had asked the BBC to halt proceedings while officers assess whether a criminal act has been committed.

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‘Love you bro’: Zayn Malik’s tribute to Liam Payne at first show since former bandmate’s death

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'Love you bro': Zayn Malik's tribute to Liam Payne at first show since former bandmate's death

Zayn Malik paid tribute to former One Direction bandmate Liam Payne as he kicked off his solo tour.

Payne died last month of multiple traumas and “internal and external haemorrhage” after falling from a third-floor balcony in Buenos Aires, according to a post-mortem.

Images from Leeds’s O2 Academy on Saturday showed Malik – who delayed his Stairway To The Sky tour due to Payne’s funeral on Wednesday – shared a tribute.

A message was displayed with a heart on a large blue screen behind the singer reading: “Liam Payne 1993-2024. Love you bro.”

The 31-year-old also previously postponed the US leg of the tour after the “heartbreaking loss”.

He later rescheduled the Edinburgh shows, which had been planned for 20 and 21 November, to December due to “unforeseen circumstances”.

Following Payne’s death, Malik said he “never got to thank” him for his support during some of the “most difficult” times.

“I will cherish all the memories I have with you in my heart forever,” he said in a post on Instagram.

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Malik rose to fame in 2010 when Simon Cowell teamed him up with Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan on talent show The X Factor.

Malik left the band in 2015 and all members went on to pursue their own solo careers.

An investigation has been launched into Payne’s death by prosecutors and three people have been charged in connection with the incident.

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Kanye West accused of sexual assault on set of music video in new lawsuit

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Kanye West accused of sexual assault on set of music video in new lawsuit

Rapper Ye – formerly known as Kanye West – has been accused of sexual assault in a civil lawsuit that alleges he strangled a model on the set of a music video.

Warning: This story contains details that readers may find distressing

The lawsuit alleges the musician shoved his fingers in the claimant’s mouth at the Chelsea Hotel in New York City in 2010, in what it refers to as “pornographic gagging”, Sky News’ US partner network NBC News reported.

The model who brought the case – which was filed on Friday in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York – was a background actor for another musician’s music video that Ye was guest-starring in, NBC said, citing the lawsuit.

She is seeking compensatory and punitive damages against the 47-year-old.

A representative for Ye was approached for comment by NBC News on Saturday.

The New York City Police Department said it took “sexual assault and rape cases extremely seriously, and urges anyone who has been a victim to file a police report so we can perform a comprehensive investigation, and offer support and services to survivors”.

The lawsuit alleges that a few hours into the shoot, the rapper arrived on set, took over control and ordered “female background actors/models, including the claimant, to line up in the hallway”.

The rapper is then believed to have “evaluated their appearances, pointed to two of the women, and then commanded them to follow him”.

The lawsuit adds the claimant, who was said to be wearing “revealing lingerie”, was uncomfortable but went with Ye to a suite which had a sofa and a camera.

When in the room, Ye is said to have ordered the production team to start playing the music, to which he did not know his lyrics and instead rambled, “rawr, rawr, rawr”.

The lawsuit claims: “Defendant West then pulled two chairs near the camera, positioned them across from each other, and instructed the claimant to sit in the chair in front of the camera.”

While stood over the model, the lawsuit clams Ye strangled her with both hands, according to NBC.

It claims he went on to “emulate forced oral sex” with his hands, with the rapper allegedly screaming: “This is art. This is f****** art. I am like Picasso.”

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Universal Music Group is also named in the lawsuit as a defendant and is accused of failing to investigate the incident.

The corporation did not immediately respond to a request for comment by NBC.

Jesse S Weinstein, a lawyer representing the claimant, said the woman “displayed great courage to speak out against some of the most powerful men and entities within the entertainment industry”.

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Joy star James Norton on the ‘postcode lottery’ of IVF – and playing the scientist who was part of creating the first ‘test-tube baby’

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Joy star James Norton on the 'postcode lottery' of IVF - and playing the scientist who was part of creating the first 'test-tube baby'

Actor James Norton, who stars in a new film telling the story of the world’s first “test-tube baby”, has criticised how “prohibitively expensive” IVF can be in the UK.

In Joy, the star portrays the real-life scientist Bob Edwards, who – along with obstetrician Patrick Steptoe and embryologist Jean Purdy – spent a decade tirelessly working on medical ways to help infertility.

The film charts the 10 years leading up to the birth of Louise Joy Brown, who was dubbed the world’s first test-tube baby, in 1978.

James Norton stars in Joy. Pic: Kerry Brown/ Netflix
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In the UK, statistics show the proportion of IVF cycles paid for by the NHS has dropped from 40% to 27% in the last decade

Norton, who is best known for playing Tommy Lee Royce in the BAFTA-winning series Happy Valley, told Sky News he has friends who were IVF babies and other friends who have had their own children thanks to the fertility treatment.

“But I didn’t know about these three scientists and their sacrifice, tenacity and skill,” he said. The star hopes the film will be “a catalyst for conversation” about the treatment and its availability.

“We know for a fact that Jean, Bob and Patrick would not have liked the fact that IVF is now so means based,” he said. “It’s prohibitively expensive for some… and there is a postcode lottery which means that some people are precluded from that opportunity.”

Bill Nighy, Thomasin McKenzie and James Norton star in Joy. Pic: Netflix/ Kerry Brown
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Bill Nighy, Thomasin McKenzie and James Norton star in Joy. All pics: Netflix/ Kerry Brown

Now, IVF is considered a wonder of modern medicine. More than 12 million people owe their existence today to the treatment Edwards, Steptoe and Purdy worked so hard to devise.

But Joy shows how public backlash in the years leading up to Louise’s birth saw the team vilified – accused of playing God and creating “Frankenstein babies”.

Bill Nighy and Thomasin McKenzie star alongside Norton, with the script written by acclaimed screenwriter Jack Thorne and his wife Rachel Mason.

The couple went through seven rounds of IVF themselves to conceive their son.

James Norton and Thomasin McKenzie star in Joy. Pic: Kerry Brown/ Netflix
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Norton portrays scientist Bob Edwards, while McKenzie plays embryologist Jean Purdy

While the film is set in the 1970s, the reality is that societal pressures haven’t changed all that much for many going through IVF today – with the costs now both emotional and financial.

“IVF is still seen as a luxury product, as something that some people get access to and others don’t,” said Thorne, speaking about their experiences in the UK.

“Louise was a working-class girl with working-class parents. Working class IVF babies are very, very rare now.”

In the run-up to the US election, Donald Trump saw IVF as a campaigning point – promising his government, or insurance companies, would pay for the treatment for all women should he be elected. He called himself the “father of IVF” at a campaign event – a remark described as “quite bizarre” by Kamala Harris.

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Bill Nighy ‘proud’ of new film on IVF breakthrough

“I don’t think Trump is a blueprint for this,” Norton said. “I don’t know how that fits alongside his questions around pro-choice.”

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In the UK, statistics from fertility regulator HEFA show the proportion of IVF cycles paid for by the NHS has dropped from 40% to 27% in the last decade.

“It’s so expensive,” Norton said. “Those who want a child should have that choice… and some people’s lack of access to this incredibly important science actually means that people don’t have the choice.”

Joy is in UK cinemas from 15 November, and on Netflix from 22 November

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