ONLINE POSTS SPECULATING that an Irish presenter was at the centre of a scandal at the BBC have been viewed more than a million times on social media, despite being false.
There is no connection between Irish chat show host Graham Norton and the scandal.
The presenter at the centre of allegations, Welsh newsreader Huw Edwards, has since been identified by his wife as the person involved. However, police have since said that there is no evidence to support allegations he had broken the law.
The scandal began when The Sun published a story saying that a “top BBC star” had paid a teenager “more than £35,000 since they were 17 in return for sordid images”.
The story was supposedly based on an interview with the teenager’s mother, who had previously complained to the BBC.
Social media quickly burst into speculation as to who the unnamed “well-known presenter” could be.
“Update BBC star Graham Norton accused of paying teen for pornography,”a headline on what appears to be a junk news site read, screenshots of which were shared repeatedly on Instagram.
Meanwhile, TikTok users often mentioned Norton in videos speculating on who the unnamed BBC personality was.
One video, viewed on TikTok more than 558,000 times, lists presenters next to odds on “#whodidit”. While the names of other presenters in videos on the platform appear alongside traditional betting odds, such as “4/1” or “evens”, Norton’s odds are simply given as “100%”.
However, such claims and speculation have since been proven wrong.
Huw Edwards was named by his wife as the suspended presenter at the centre of the scandal. She also said that he had since been admitted to hospital for “serious mental health issues”.
South Wales police as well as officers at Scotland Yard have said that there is no evidence that any laws were broken by Edwards, according to The Guardian.
The person whose mother had given the story to The Sun also released a statement saying the allegations were “rubbish”. That person had supposedly also denied the story to The Sun prior to it being published.
Further allegations about Edwards, including claims he had sent threatening messages, have since been reported.
Verdict.
Speculation that the unnamed BBC presenter at the centre of a scandal was Graham Norton have been shown to be wrong. The scandal actually concerned newsreader Huw Edwards, though allegations against him have been contested.
The Journal’s FactCheck is a signatory to the International Fact-Checking Network’s Code of Principles. You can read it here. For information on how FactCheck works, what the verdicts mean, and how you can take part, check out our Reader’s Guide here. You can read about the team of editors and reporters who work on the factchecks here.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say