Jeremy Vine reveals his wife's fears for his safety after he was wrongly named in BBC sex pics scandal - but faces industry backlash for 'putting pressure' on troubled presenter to go public after saying he is 'worried about his state of mind'
- Host of BBC stars have been forced to publicly deny they are person in question
Jeremy Vine today revealed how his wife begged him to wear a disguise in public after he was wrongly named in the BBC sex pictures scandal, as a civil war erupted over the corporation's handling of the crisis.
The radio and TV host, 58, spoke of how wife Rachel has feared for his safety, giving him a baseball cap and telling him 'you better wear this' when he went to a Bruce Springsteen concert at the weekend.
It came at a time where he was being smeared by Twitter trolls making baseless claims that he was the BBC star who The Sun claims paid a teenager £35,000 for sexually explicit images.
Vine today reiterated his call for the presenter - who has not been named but is described as being 'known by millions' - to come forward and reveal his identity, but he faced a backlash from rival broadcaster Susanna Reid on Good Morning Britain.
She told viewers: 'Now we have a very high-profile presenter, Jeremy Vine, putting pressure on the unnamed presenter to come forward, which I think is a strange move for another presenter.'
It comes as the differing views on the BBC's handling of the scandal from inside the broadcaster were also laid bare today.
TV and radio star Jeremy Vine has said the unnamed presenter at the heart of the BBC furore 'needs to come forward' adding that 'the longer he leaves it the worse it will be for him'
BBC director-general Tim Davie is pictured arriving at work today as the scandal engulfing the corporation deepens
Jon Sopel, who worked at the corporation for nearly 40 years before moving to Global last year, told The News Agents podcast: 'A number of people have been in touch with the presenter to say they feel righteous fury over the way The Sun has covered this.
'It is fair to say that the presenter at the heart of this is also extremely angry over a lot of The Sun coverage and is convinced they're trying to dig and find new dirt to harm this particular person's reputation.'
Meanwhile, one senior BBC insider described the mood inside New Broadcasting House as increasingly 'fraught'.
He told the Times: 'Everyone feels a bit blindsided. People are deeply frustrated that the BBC has become the story. [Director General Tim Davie] comments today helped to clear up some of the questions but he still hasn't answered everything.'
The reaction came as Vine said of the unnamed presenter: 'It's his decision but he needs to come forward now, I think.
'I know his survival instinct has kicked in and I know he saw what happened to Phillip Schofield, but my God look at the damage to the BBC, look at the damage to his friends, to those falsely accused - and the longer he leaves it the worse it will be for him.'
Vine said he thought 'very carefully' before posting a tweet on Tuesday night urging the unnamed presenter to reveal himself, adding: 'I know the individual concerned. I am very worried about his state of mind and what this is doing to him.
'I haven't spoken to him but I gather from somebody who has that he is described as angry and keen to play it long.
'Now to me that means that he wants to be anonymous for as long as possible, hoping that he can one day walk back into the building.'
Vine said the unnamed BBC presenter 'will have to answer' the allegations against him, suggesting the man will not be able to 'remain anonymous for ever' while continuing to work for the broadcaster.
He added: 'What's happening is all this stuff is aggregating with no response.
'Now, he must have a defence, he must have one. Maybe he's going to say it's all a misunderstanding? Well I assume it.'
The 58-year-old, who said he has not spoken with the presenter, also said: 'I had a situation: I was going to see Bruce Springsteen at the weekend and my wife said, 'are you going to be safe there?'
'That's how serious this thing is, and she gave me a baseball cap and said, 'you better wear this'.'
Vine today reiterated his call for the presenter - who has not been named but is described as being 'known by millions' - to come forward and reveal his identity, but he faced a backlash from rival broadcaster Susanna Reid on Good Morning Britain
The radio and TV host, 58, spoke of how wife Rachel has feared for his safety, giving him a baseball cap and telling him 'you better wear this' when he went to a Bruce Springsteen concert at the weekend
A mocked up version of a reported Instagram message exchange between the unnamed BBC star and a teenager
However, fellow broadcaster Richard Bacon was critical, as he tweeted: 'Stop it. You're more emotionally intelligent than this.
'We don't know the complexities of what his family are going through. Or what dark thoughts are running through his head. Irrespective of what he's done wrong. You can walk off people wrongly guessing it's you for 5 minutes.'
In a follow-up tweet today, Bacon added: 'I agree, [Jeremy Vine] is calling for the presenter to come forward for the good of [JeremyVine].
Meanwhile, Vine also defended the BBC, saying the corporation has 'behaved with extraordinary decency' and he understands that if it sacks the presenter, it may not be able to 'name' him.
On whether the person thinks they are above being held to account for their alleged actions, Vine said: 'It may be more complicated than that, they may be in some sort of terrible crisis, unable to judge what's right and what's wrong any more, I don't know.'
On The Sun's front page on Wednesday, the newspaper reported a 23-year-old person has claimed the BBC presenter broke lockdown rules to meet them during the pandemic in February 2021.
The paper also reported an additional claim from another person saying the presenter 'started a chat with a teen follower from his Instagram account - using love hearts and kisses in his messages'.
According to The Sun, the individual was 17 when the presenter contacted them 'out of the blue'.
Press gather outside the headquarters of the BBC, which has been plunged into crisis in the last few days
Tim Davie, director general of the BBC, revealed today he has not spoken with the presenter at the centre of the scandal
Separately, BBC News reported on Tuesday that a person in their early 20s has alleged that they were sent threatening messages by the unnamed man.
BBC News said it had contacted the presenter via his lawyer, but had received no response to the allegations.
On July 9, the BBC issued an update to staff and the media and confirmed it had suspended the unnamed presenter following the first allegation printed in The Sun which said the presenter had paid a teenager tens of thousands of pounds for sexually explicit images.
But the young person at the centre of the controversy later said via lawyers, in a letter to the BBC, that nothing inappropriate or unlawful happened with the unnamed presenter.
BBC News said it does not know the identity of the young person and has not spoken to them directly, but that the letter was sent by a multinational law firm.
Their mother told The Sun they stand by the claims and a spokesperson for The Sun said it is 'now for the BBC to properly investigate'.
On Tuesday the corporation's director-general Tim Davie said he has ordered a review to 'assess how some complaints are red flagged up the organisation' as the BBC's annual report was unveiled.
He said the BBC is dealing with a 'complex and difficult situation' after the 'serious allegations'.
The corporation has been asked to pause its internal investigation into the allegations 'while the police scope future work' following a meeting with the Metropolitan Police.
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'.
A statement from the BBC on Tuesday said: '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.'
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