The Sun’s parent company has hired external lawyers to help investigate “very serious” allegations regarding Dan Wootton’s time at the tabloid, the Guardian has been told.
Wootton is facing allegations he used a pseudonym to secretly offer current and former Sun colleagues tens of thousands of pounds in return for sexual material
Rupert Murdoch’s News UK asked staff to contact its most senior lawyer if they have any information regarding the claims. They promised that all information would be treated in confidence, offered counselling services to anyone affected, and asked employees not to talk to journalists while inquiries were ongoing. Employees were told: “The matters reported are obviously very serious and include allegations that certain actions of Mr Wootton may have affected some members of staff at The Sun.”
A source at News UK said the company had also employed external legal counsel to advise and assist with its investigation.
Wootton also writes a regular column for MailOnline, which usually appears on Mondays and Thursday. The company has said it is looking into the allegations against the presenter and would not comment on whether it would continue to publish his writing.
Wootton remains on air at GB News, where he delivered a six minute monologue responding to the claims on Tuesday night. He admitted “errors of judgment in the past” while telling viewers he was the victim of a “witch-hunt” driven by “dark forces” intent on shutting down GB News.
The presenter denied any illegal behaviour but he did not directly address whether he had ever sent emails using the name Martin Branning. It is claimed that this pseudonym was used during Wootton’s time at the Sun to approach many serving and former Sun employees with the offer of five-figure sums in return for performing sex acts on camera.
The Guardian has spoken to seven current and former Sun employees who say they received emails from Martin Branning – understood to be a portmanteau of EastEnders characters Martin Fowler and Max Branning. All claim they were offered large sums of money in return for pictures.
Wootton’s ex-boyfriend has publicly linked the TV presenter to the Branning pseudonym and Byline Times has also quoted an anonymous former colleague who claimed Wootton had acknowledged his involvement. Wootton has not denied the allegation. The Guardian has not been able to independently establish the link between Branning and Wootton.
Wootton confronted the claims head-on on Tuesday night, blaming an ex-boyfriend with an axe to grind and suggesting social media and “cancel culture” had amplified the allegations. The GB News host used his show to warn that “revolting blogs that eschew basic journalism standards” are destroying democracy: “I have been thinking much about the current state of social media, where any allegation can be made in an attempt to get someone cancelled but it is impossible to defend yourself against thousands of trolls.”
He said: “I, like all fallible human beings, have made errors of judgment in the past. But the criminal allegations being made against me are simply untrue.”
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He said: “I mean who doesn’t have regrets? Should I be cancelled for them many years later? Or do you accept that I have learned and changed?”
He also urged people to ignore the “cesspit” of Twitter: “Social media has become a race to the bottom. Pile-ons are now the way to cancel a person. Our country is better than that, we must be – that’s why GB News exists.”
Sources at GB News told the Guardian they felt like there was an “uncomfortable” atmosphere around Wootton’s flagship 9pm show, after the presenter decided to directly address the allegations head on. But he also received supportive feedback from GB News viewers – and some Conservative MPs – after his suggestion the allegations were part of a left-wing political campaign.