GB News’ Dan Wootton Threatens Legal Action Against Byline Times, Carol Vorderman
GB News host Dan Wootton. (Screengrab via GB News/Youtube)
Veteran broadcaster Carol Vorderman, journalist Emily Maitlis and several media outlets reportedly received letters from GB News host Dan Wootton’s legal team over articles and online commentary about him last year.
It was already known that Wootton is seeking damages, an apology and the retraction of articles from Byline Times, which reported on allegations relating to the obtaining of sexual images by deception and blackmail in July 2023 and, subsequently, the fact he was being investigated by police.
But Press Gazette reports that LBC host Voderman and The News Agents podcast host Maitlis, formerly BBC Newsnight, have also received letters from Wootton’s legal representatives over commentary on Twitter.
In a monologue at the time on his GB News show, Wootton admitted to “errors of judgement” in aspects of his conduct but vehemently denied the “criminal allegations” made against him as “untrue.” Nevertheless, the allegations prompted two police investigations. Wootton revealed Tuesday that Police Scotland and London’s Metropolitan Police had dropped their investigations into his prior conduct.
It’s the reporting of the police investigations that appear to be at the centre of Wootton’s current legal action.
In a letter before action to Byline Times, Wootton’s lawyer Donal Blaney reportedly cited 2022’s judgement Bloomberg versus ZXC Supreme Court, arguing that their client’s right to privacy was infringed upon by premature reports of the police investigation. The landmark court ruling underscored the privacy rights of individuals under investigation until charges are formally pressed.
Press Gazette, however, notes that the allegations against Wootton were public domain before reports of a police investigation, arguing that the precedents of Bloomberg versus ZXC Supreme Court differ from Wootton’s case.
In a separate matter, despite the dropped police investigations, Wootton remains suspended from GB News over a misogynistic rant during a September episode of his show Dan Wootton Tonight by guest Laurence Fox about female journalist Ava Evans.
