The publishers behind the Sun and MailOnline are looking into allegations that Dan Wootton inappropriately offered colleagues tens of thousands of pounds in return for sexual material.
Wootton’s ex-boyfriend claimed last week that Wootton, who is now a presenter on GB News, used the pseudonym “Martin Branning” and offered individuals large sums of money in return for filming themselves carrying out sex acts.
Alex Truby alleged he made the discovery after accessing Wootton’s hard drive in 2013 and seeing emails mentioning the pseudonym.
On Monday, the website Byline Times went further and published a story claiming that an anonymous “trusted former colleague” of the GB News anchor had come forward to say Wootton used the Branning name. The Guardian has not been able to independently establish the link between Branning and Wootton.
Many of the allegations relate to the time when Wootton was employed by the Sun, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News UK. The Guardian understands the organisation has no record of internal complaints relating to a Martin Branning, although it is urging anyone who wishes to make fresh allegations to approach the company.
A spokesperson for News UK said: “We are looking into the allegations made in recent days. We are not able to make any further comment at this stage.”
Wootton currently writes a regular column for MailOnline. A spokesperson for DMG Media, the site’s parent company, said: “We are aware of the allegations and are looking into them.”
The Guardian has over the last three years talked to multiple individuals working in the media who say they have been approached online by a person using the name Martin Branning.
The individuals, usually with links to the Sun, described being offered tens of thousands of pounds by Branning, usually in return for performing sexual acts on camera. The messages appeared to be personalised and were targeted at individuals, usually straight men, including employees of News UK.
Wootton has denied that any illegal behaviour took place and has not commented further on the allegations. His employers at GB News did not respond to a request for comment.
Wootton, 40, is a former showbiz journalist at the News of the World, who has extensively documented the private lives of celebrities. He moved to the Sun after the phone-hacking scandal and wrote extensively about celebrities including Caroline Flack. He broke the news that Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, was moving to the US, and he was involved in the story that led to the ITV presenter Phillip Schofield publicly coming out as gay.
In 2021 he moved to GB News, where he hosts a nightly show and has developed a persona as a rightwing presenter criticising “woke” issues.
In 2022, Andrew Brady, the former fiancee of Flack, was sent to jail after pleading guilty to harassment of Wootton, after publicly making a number of allegations about the presenter.
Wootton was off the air last week while visiting his family in New Zealand. He returned to the UK at the weekend and started his Monday night GB News show with an apparent allusion to widely shared social media allegations about his behaviour.
“It’s good to be back from my scheduled holiday in New Zealand with my family. It was really special, that family time, because they are the people who really know you. They are the people who matter in this world – your blood,” he said.
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If you wish to contact the author of this article with further information, please email jim.waterson@theguardian.com or use the Guardian’s Secure Drop tool.
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July 19, 2023 at 01:33AM
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Sun and Mail publishers examine claims against journalist Dan Wootton - The Guardian
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