The couple behind PinkNews have called allegations of sexual misconduct at the company “false, inconsistent and malicious” in their first statement since a investigation into claims about their behaviour.
Benjamin Cohen and Anthony James have released an open letter on the PinkNews website accusing the of misleading the public about their response to the investigation.
A documentary spoke to 30 former and current workers at PinkNews who alleged a culture of heavy drinking led to instances of inappropriate behaviour from both Mr Cohen and Dr James.
Mr Cohen and Dr James have said they were initially unable to respond because of an ongoing criminal investigation. The said its report was “in the public interest”.
PinkNews says it has an audience of millions for its content about the LGBT community.
Five former staff spoke to the and alleged they saw Dr James kissing and touching a younger colleague, who was described as “too drunk to consent”.
Others said there was a toxic work culture and that they were too scared to speak out because the two most senior bosses at the company were married to each other.
When contacted about the original investigation, representatives for Mr Cohen and Dr James told the they were not able to provide a statement at this time. However the understood the couple’s position was that the allegations were false, which was included in the report.
Today, a statement from the couple said the reporting had caused “extremely serious harm” to them, to PinkNews and to their colleagues.
It read: “In August, we made a criminal complaint to the police in relation to alleged offences committed against us that are connected with these recent reports.
“As we told the prior to its initial broadcast, a police investigation was ongoing and we were advised not to make a comment.
“We are now aware that devices had been seized with forensic investigations continuing.”
The statement added: “Despite the being aware of the police investigation, it chose to broadcast and misled the public about our response. We have consulted lawyers in respect of these false, inconsistent and malicious allegations.
“We had explained to the , that the stage of the police investigation meant that it was not possible for us to comment on the specific allegations even though they were strenuously denied.”
More than 10 more former staff have since come forward to the to share their experiences at PinkNews since the report was published last week.
A spokeswoman said: “The reported the allegations made by several members of staff at PinkNews.
“We approached Mr Cohen and Dr James for comment and we made it clear in our reporting that they said they were unable to provide a comment at this time, but they denied the allegations.
“We believe it was in the public interest to report this story.”
Following the ‘s report, Dr James was suspended from his position as an associate non-executive director in the NHS, pending further information.
There is no suggestion that the suspension is related to his conduct within the NHS.
The has contacted representatives of Dr James for comment regarding his suspension.
