Stephen Nolan: The BBC faces yet another scandal only a month after Huw Edwards’ departure

This new scandal rocking the BBC emerged on 15 August through The Irish News. The publication alleges that presenter Stephen Nolan sent explicit pictures of someone in order to get them on his show.

Not only that, The Irish Newsmentions complaints of bullying made against the BBC presenter. The publication states that this article is ‘part of a wider investigation looking behind the scenes’ of Nolan’s shows.

These new allegations made against a BBC presenter appear just a month after the channel suffered a massive blow, having to suspend their top presenter Huw Edwards after claims of him paying a teenager over £30,000 for explicit pictures were published by The Sun.

The claims made against Stephen Nolan

If you’ve been keeping up with the scandals rocking English TV over the past few months you will notice one specific pattern: explicit pictures.

These were at the heart of the Huw Edwards scandal and they are currently at the core of the Dan Wootton affair. The claims made against Stephen Nolan follow the same pattern… but not exactly.

‘Sexually explicit images’

According to The Irish News, Nolan:

sent "sexually explicit images" of a later convicted sex offender to other BBC employees working on his radio and television shows

The ‘convicted sex offender’ in question is Stephen Bear who won Celebrity Big Brother in 2016. The allegations made against Stephen Nolan date back to this time. Indeed, we understand that the presenter really wanted Bear on his show and that it motivated his actions.

The Irish News writes:

The text messages and photographs related to Bear’s possible appearance on Nolan Live on BBC One. Nolan threatened to send more explicit images if Bear was not booked on the television show.

According to The Irish News, they have accessed documents as well as conversations between Nolan and his staff. They also assert that they have spoken to different sources regarding this affair.

Bullying

The accusations made by The Irish Timesdo not end with the pictures of Stephen Bear’s penis Nolan allegedly sent. The presenter is also accused of being a bully.

They write:

The "appropriate action" on the circulation of sexually explicit images followed a wider internal grievance investigation into Nolan.

However, even though bullying claims were made against Nolan, a BBC internal investigation ‘concluded Nolan did not have a case to answer.’ Indeed, other members of staff testified that they enjoyed working on Nolan’s show. In their testimonies, these employees also referred to a ‘level of banter’ which, according to The Irish News included ‘quite a number of sexually explicit exchanges, along with innuendos, some of which Nolan was directly involved in, some not.’

Moreover, it seems like Nolan sent ‘abusive messages about BBC colleagues and others about politicians’ without the staff being concerned or bothered.

BBC NI has chosen not to comment as they follow their well oiled procedure in dealing with such a scandal.

Read more:

⋙ Huw Edwards: BBC Viewers demand to hear from presenter after explicit photo scandal

⋙ Dan Wootton urged to comment as horrifying claims emerge about GB News

The BBC once again under pressure

Just a month ago, star presenter Huw Edwards was revealed as the presenter who has paid an underage person for explicit pictures. Even before The Sun published their article, Edwards was removed from the air and since the scandal, Edwards is in a medical facility dealing with mental health issues.

At the time of the Huw Edwards scandal, the BBC was under immense pressure to comment as, for days, the identity of the accused presenter was unknown. The pressure is building back up again.

Indeed, this is the second time that one of the BBC's highest paid presenters is caught in such a scandal. According to the BBC, Nolan ranks number five on the list earning £404,999 within the past year. That puts him right under Huw Edwards.

The pressure in this case is coming from Irish political party Sinn Féin. One of their spokesperson told The Irish News:

The BBC is funded through a government sponsored licence fee. There is, therefore, a very clear and onerous responsibility on the BBC to deliver maximum value, transparency and accountability.

They continued:

Recent revelations relating to the Nolan show raise very serious questions for the BBC management which need to be answered candidly. “Audience figures and rating should never lead to the tolerance of bad practice or inappropriate behaviour by radio and TV presenters".

In their article, The Irish News,points to that issue. Indeed, they suggest that Nolan's ability to keep ratings up for a 'prolonged period of time' made him seen 'invincible' and 'untouchable' within the BBC.

Moreover, an MP from Democratic Unionist Party stated that ‘Radio silence’ just won’t cut it however in this instance.’

This was indeed the strategy chosen by the BBC regarding Huw Edwards.

Finally, if there is one thing we are learning with these repeating scandals, it is to not draw conclusions before every thing has played out.

We understand that The Irish Times will have more to report on their ‘wider investigation.’

Read more:

⋙ Dan Wootton scandal brings up many crucial questions about treatment of Schofield and Edwards

⋙ Dan Wootton loses support as solid proof of catfishing has been revealed

⋙ Dan Wootton could be faking his whole 'hard-right' personality on GB News, close source reveals

Sources:

The Irish News: BBC presenter Stephen Nolan sent unsolicited 'sexually explicit' images of disgraced reality TV star Stephen Bear to work colleagues

The Irish News: Parties united in saying answers needed from BBC over Stephen Nolan explicit images revelations