So far, over 30 current and ex staff members have come out saying Cohen and his husband Anthony James (who is also a director at the company) have acted “inappropriately” towards younger male employees
Ben Cohen, the founder of PinkNews, the world’s biggest LGBTQ+ news site, has been accused of sexual misconduct by staff at the paper.
So far, over 30 current and ex staff members have come out saying Cohen and his husband Anthony James (who is also a director at the company) have acted “inappropriately” towards younger male employees.
Five former members of staff told the BBC they had witnessed James groping and kissing a junior member of staff, who they said was “too drunk to stand or talk” and “unable to consent”. The alleged incident happened outside a central London pub, where staff had gathered after a PinkNews event.
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A former PinkNews staff member, who we are calling Gary, said James had led the junior colleague behind a tree. “Anthony was just forcing himself on somebody who wasn’t able to make that decision for themselves because of how intoxicated they were,” he said.
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Staff say that every Friday they would receive “free wine” to boost morale and it was the heavy drinking culture that led to the alleged misconduct.
Another former staff member said he personally experienced inappropriate behaviour from Cohen during an evening at the pub after work. “Ben was extremely drunk to the point he fell off his chair, and then asked me out of earshot of my other colleagues whether I wanted to go back to his because Anthony wasn’t there.”
According to those who have come out with the allegations, some female members of staff had even been asked to be surrogate mothers for Cohen and James. One anonymous staff member called it “creepy and sleazy”, while another called it “part and parcel” of how “misogynistic” PinkNews was.
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