Jeremy Vine reaches settlement with man over false BBC scandal allegations - but there's a catch

Jeremy Vine has reached a settlement with a man who levied false allegations that he was the unnamed BBC presenter at the centre of the 'sexual pictures' scandal - but there is a catch.

Instead of paying damages straight to the talkshow host, which is the norm in liable cases, the man will give a sum of £1,000 to a charity of Vine's choosing. A settlement that was reached after it was confirmed to be Huw Edwards as the suspended BBC star.

Vine shared the news in a Tweet on Sunday (16 July), revealing that he had accepted a public apology from the person in question and that they agreed the donation will go to the MND Association, which is a charity committed to the research, care and campaigning for those living with or affected by motor neurone disease.

He said: "On 8 July @AndyPlumb4 libelled me by alleging that I was the BBC presenter at the heart of a story in The Sun that day. He has now acknowledged that he was wrong, and has apologised. At my request, he has also agreed to pay £1,000 to @mndassoc rather than paying damages."

When the BBC scandal first came to light in early July, with allegations that one of the broadcaster's male stars had paid a vulnerable teenager more than £30,000 for 'sexually explicit images', speculation grew and many hosts bore the brunt of false accusations. It led to not just Jeremy Vine, but also the likes of Rylan Clarke, Gary Lineker, Jon Kay and more to publicly distance themselves from the claims.

One Twitter user - whose social handle was @AndyPlumb4 - had posted a libelous tweet which claimed that the presenter in question was Vine, a comment which he has now disowned as he posted the following statement: "The post should not have been sent. Although the post was deleted, many screenshots were made and probably still exist. I retract the statement made in this tweet and any interference therein in their entirety.

"I would add that I sincerely and unreservedly apologise to Mr Vine for the untrue and defamatory statements made about him, which were entirely baseless."