Dan Wootton has addressed claims regarding his personal conduct made on social media, calling all criminal allegations made against him “untrue” and claiming he is the victim of a “smear campaign”.
The journalist and presenter made a statement at the start of his daily GB News show, Dan Wootton Tonight, telling viewers: ” As a journalist I feel uncomfortable being the story, but I’ve always promised you that this show has no spin and no bias and censorship, so I owe it to you to address this”.
The 40-year-old said he felt compelled to address allegations swirling online, following a report by Byline Times on Monday, detailing allegations of potentially criminal behaviour over the course of a decade.
Referring to claims made against him, Wootton said: “I have been the target of a smear campaign by nefarious players with an axe to grind.”
He also said he had previously been the victim of an abusive relationship and was talking about it for the first time following these allegations.
“I have made errors of judgement in the past, but the criminal allegations made against me are simply untrue,” he added.
Wootton also made reference to “other unspeakable slurs” he said had been made about him online.
He went on to say he could spend his whole two-hour show addressing the allegations but concluded, “on the advice of my lawyers I cannot comment further”.
Byline Times said they have contacted the Metropolitan Police with evidence.
A spokesperson told Sky News: “In June 2023, the Metropolitan Police was contacted with regards to allegations of sexual offences committed by a man.
“Officers are assessing information to establish whether any criminal offence has taken place.”
They said there is currently no active investigation.
‘We are looking into the allegations made in recent days’
Many of the allegations concern events said to have taken place while Wootton was working at The Sun newspaper.
Parent company News UK said: “We are looking into the allegations made in recent days. We are not able to make any further comment at this stage.”
Wootton is now a regular columnist for MailOnline.
Its publisher DMG Media told Sky News: “We are looking into the allegations made in recent days. We are not able to make any further comment at this stage.”
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Wootton – who was born in New Zealand – was formerly a showbiz journalist at the now defunct News Of The World. He is, by his own admission, a “polarising figure”.
He moved to The Sun newspaper after the phone hacking scandal in 2011. In 2021 he joined GB News. He also has a regular column in MailOnline.
His week-night opinion show on GB News is the channel’s most watched program. Wootton was off-air last week, telling viewers he had taken a “scheduled holiday in New Zealand with my family”.
A spokesperson for GB News told Sky News they have no comment at this time.