The BBC has apologised and paid “substantial” compensation to the couple behind the PinkNews website, after conceding that stories accusing them of sexual misconduct were false and defamatory.
In a sweeping admission, the BBC accepted at the high court that a 2024 iPlayer documentary about the PinkNews founder Benjamin Cohen and his husband, Anthony James, called PinkNews: Behind Closed Doors, had made “a series of very serious, false, and defamatory allegations”.
The corporation also accepted that an accompanying news article had made “false and extremely harmful” allegations that the pair had placed inappropriate pressure on young female staff members to act as surrogates for them.
The claims were widely reported. Downing Street described the claims of sexual misconduct made against the couple behind PinkNews, the world’s largest LGBTQ+ website, as “very concerning”.
The accusations also meant that the pair were subjected to investigations by the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service, which safeguards the interests of children involved in family court proceedings. The investigations took place before a hearing concerning the couple’s son, who was born via a surrogate.
Cohen felt compelled to resign as a trustee of a global disability charity, his legal team told the court. James resigned as an associate non-executive director on the board of Bedfordshire hospitals NHS foundation trust.
“These allegations were false and extremely harmful to the claimants’ reputations,” said the couple’s legal team. “They were – unsurprisingly – picked up and republished by other national media outlets and across social media.”
The BBC’s barrister said: “On behalf of the defendant, I accept everything that my learned friend has said. The BBC retracts and apologises unreservedly for the defamatory allegations made in the programme and the article.”
In a joint statement after the hearing, Cohen and James said the BBC still had questions to answer about how the allegations ever reached publication.
“The BBC ignored warnings about the veracity of these allegations and chose to broadcast false claims to millions of people,” they said.
“When this began, we were new dads and our son was just six months old. What should have been one of the happiest periods of our lives was instead thrown into chaos, impacting our business, our colleagues and our family. This included being subjected to additional investigations by social workers.
“Throughout all of this, our greatest fear has been for our son’s future. We have worried about the day he goes to school and other children find these false allegations online. We have worried about what he might read about his dads, what his friends might say and what that could do to him.
“Today’s apology cannot erase what happened, but it means that when that day eventually comes, the truth will be there.”
Cohen and James launched legal action last year. The case will no longer go to trial after the BBC apologised and agreed to pay compensation, described as “substantial”. The couple are donating it to the Multiple Sclerosis Society and Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Charity.
The documentary and accompanying BBC article have been removed. The corporation said: “The BBC has reached a settlement with Ben Cohen and Anthony James. We will not be issuing any further comment.”
