Benjamin Cohen, the founder of British based media company Pink News, and his husband Dr Anthony James, have responded to reports from the BBC that alleged bullying and inappropriate sexual behaviour.
In a statement published on the Pink News website, Cohen and James accuse the BBC of misrepresenting their response to the accusations.
In their report the BBC shared comments from current and former staff of the publication who described a culture of bullying in the workplace, and Dr James was accused of groping a staff member at a social event who was described as too intoxicated to give consent.
Cohen is also accused of propositioning a staffer for sex, and touching staff inappropriately. The BBC said the two men had denied the allegations but their representatives said they were not in a position to make any statement.
Now the couple say the reason their were unable to respond to the allegations was because of an ongoing police investigation, and they’d been advised not to make any comment. The couple say the BBC were aware of this, and misrepresented their situation in their reporting.
They have strenuously denied all the allegations, and say that the police investigation has stemmed from a complaint they made to authorities which is related to the accusations leveled at them.
“Despite the BBC being aware of the police investigation, it chose to broadcast and misled the public about our response. We have consulted lawyers in respect of these false, inconsistent and malicious allegations.” Cohen and James said.
“We had explained to the BBC, that the stage of the police investigation meant that it was not possible for us to comment on the specific allegations even though they were strenuously denied. The BBC disregarded the police investigation and then misled its audience about our response.
“The impact of the BBC’s reporting on our family life has been significant and it has caused extremely serious harm to us, PinkNews and our colleagues.” the couple said.
In their initial report the BBC say they spoke to more than 30 current and former staff members who described a culture of heavy drinking that led to instances of both men touching staff inappropriately and one some occasions propositioning younger male staffers for sex.
In the expose staff members allege bullying and sexual misconduct has made some of them feel unsafe around Cohen and James. Others have alleged the couple would also ask female staff members to consider being surrogates for them.
One of the most serious accusations, that the BBC said was backed up by several staff members, concerned an alleged incident at a London Pub where team members gathered after a company event. The staff say Anthony James had led a young colleague behind a tree and was groping and kissing him, but staff felt he was too intoxicated to provide consent.
Staff said they were too afraid of reporting the boss’s husband for his behaviour, but the BBC says a staff member later made an official complaint. The result of the complaint is unknown.
Another former staff member shared a story of allegedly being propositioned by Cohen. He said the approach made him feel uncomfortable and he avoiding being alone with the CEO during his remaining time working at the publication.
While another staff member said he’d been slapped on the buttocks by Cohen in front of other staff members and it left him feeling uncomfortable.
Benjamin Cohen founded the publication in 2005, and it has grown to be a world leader employing 55 team members.
