The acting chairwoman of the BBC has told peers that there was “huge pressure” on the corporation to name Huw Edwards as the presenter caught up in a controversy.
Dame Elan Closs Stephens told a pre-arranged meeting of the Communications and Digital Committee on Tuesday that she was “informed immediately” following allegations that a BBC presenter paid a young person for explicit images.
She said the corporation’s board met twice to discuss the controversy following the Sun newspaper, who initially made claims, publishing its July 8th front page.
Speaking about the board’s reaction, Dame Elan said: “We had a duty to act with some calm and rationality in the face of lack of rationality and lack of calm.
“There were an awful lot of questions that could not be answered.
“There was a huge pressure to disclose the name of somebody to whom we had a duty of care, and duty of privacy, in addition to the family and young man that were concerned in this maelstrom.
“So I was on the one hand seeking to establish the right of the board to oversee what was happening, but at the same time, I was trying my best to make for a calm and rational discussion of the issue before we all got carried away in what could have been very wrong directions.”
BBC director-general Tim Davie also updated the committee on the review he has ordered into the internal protocols and procedures on complaints at the corporation.
The family of the young person had originally complained to the BBC in May and the corporation said it tried to contact them twice.
In a letter to BBC News, the young person at the centre of the controversy later said via lawyers that nothing inappropriate or unlawful happened with the then unnamed presenter.
Mr Davie also said he expects to report in the autumn or late autumn.
Dame Elan also told peers that Simon Cuerden, a forensic partner at Deloitte and senior independent director at the BBC, Sir Nick Serota, will be leading the broadcaster’s review into how complaints are assessed.
She added: “The terms of reference will be in front of the full board this coming Thursday, in two days time.
“They will be published in due course and the inquiry will get under way.”
