BBC Apologizes To PinkNews Over Misconduct Documentary & Article

The BBC has “apologized unreservedly for the defamatory allegations” made in a documentary and accompanying article about the founder of one of the UK’s leading LGBTQ+ publications and his husband.

The BBC this morning removed from its website the original PinkNews article while the documentary is no longer on iPlayer. The corporation has agreed to pay compensation to PinkNews founder Benjamin Cohen and his husband Anthony James.

In a joint settlement statement read out at the UK’s High Court, Cohen and James said the BBC had “reinforced one of the most damaging homophobic tropes” by “falsely portraying us as engaging in sexual misconduct and pressuring female employees over surrogacy.” The BBC said it accepted their position.

The BBC launched the documentary, PinkNews: Behind Closed Doors, and an accompanying article titled “PinkNews bosses accused of sexual misconduct” in late 2024. The doc and article said the BBC had spoken with 30 current and former employees, some of whom told the BBC they had experienced bullying and sexual misconduct from Cohen and James. The BBC also reported that several people had said some young female members of staff had been asked to act as the couple’s surrogates.

The High Court statement called the allegations “serious, false, defamatory… and extremely harmful to the claimants’ reputations.” It noted that, as a result of the doc and article, Cohen and James were subject to additional investigations by CAFCASS (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support
Service) ahead of a parental order hearing at the Family Court in respect of their son, who had been born via surrogate.

The BBC’s counsel responded by saying the corporation “accepts everything” and “retracts and apologises unreservedly for the defamatory allegatios made in the programme and the article.”

A BBC spokeswoman told Deadline: “The BBC has reached a settlement with Ben Cohen and Anthony James. We will not be issuing any further comment.”

Cohen and James’ statement said: “By falsely portraying us as engaging in sexual misconduct and pressuring female employees over surrogacy, the BBC reinforced one of the most damaging homophobic tropes: that gay men are sexual predators who pose a threat to others. These were allegations that should never have been broadcast.”

They added that while they can now “finally begin to move forward,” the BBC “needs to carefully consider and learn from the impact that its reckless journalism has had on a young family’s lives.”