Dark forces

Dan Wootton is leaning on conspiracy theory in his flailing defence of the indefensible. I have got hold of his begging letter.

Jul 22, 2023

Previously: Anatomy of an arsehole: Dan Wootton fronts GB News’ despicable Dad's Army war on the BBC (from the archives, July 2021)

I’m something of a Dan Wootton criticism hipster; I’ve been writing about the ugly deeds and immoral antics of the former Sun and News of the World hack-turned-TalkRadio then GB News shit-talking head for years now.

I’ve previously told readers of this newsletter — that’s you, that is — about Wootton’s Sun splash (Hollywood HIV Panic) which led the British Medical Journal to call it “how not to report a case of HIV” while the Terence Higgins Trust decried his “insidious headline grab”; about his essentially fictional Sun front page about the Duchess of Sussex (Not in Meg Back Yard) that was so egregious that it led even the toothless press regulator IPSO to decide it had breached accuracy guidelines; and, of course, I covered the way Wootton used Caroline Flack’s death to promote in his new Drive Time show on TalkRadio in February 2020.

That’s just a brief trip through some of Wootton’s greatest shits, because since he entered the British media, GB New’s MVP (most vile player) has left a trail of destruction and misery that takes in members of the public, celebrities, grieving families, and his own colleagues.

Two of those former colleagues — Dan Evans and Tom Latchem, who worked at the News of the World alongside Wootton — have this week published the first two parts of a series on serious allegations about him. In part one, they wrote of serious accusations that Wootton catfished colleagues to acquire sexual photos, while in part two, they outlined evidence that Wootton harassed colleagues at News UK when he was employed by The Sun and that victims were moved while he was promoted. Wootton denies the claims but refused to do so on the record.

Since the stories have been published, Byline Times has seen attempts to break into its computer systems and one of the reporters involved in the story has had blood smeared on their car windscreen. Wootton appeared on his TV show this week — yes, he’s still on the air — and ranted about “dark forces”. It appears that the dark forces are not on the side of Byline Times.

Wootton is crowdfunding for what he claims will be legal action against Byline Times, despite his significant GB News salary and the apparent support of the channel. I’ve been passed the text of a message he is sending to ‘friends’. It says:

This has been the worst week of my life, but I have to fight these disgusting smears against me. I wouldn’t ask for your help unless I was desperately in need. [Link to his crowdfunding appeal] If you can please support this crowd funder. It will go entirely on my legal fees to fight Byline Media, which is on the most sick and twisted campaign to push me over the edge. I know it’s a big ask, but please share this on your social media and with [sic] many friends as possible. Trust me that this is a campaign to see me cancelled and destroyed — it’s chilling. I really do need your help. Please! [Link to his crowdfunding appeal].

Meanwhile, Byline Times is raising money to support its journalists and to keep publishing important stories. I know where I’ll be putting my support (hint: It’s not Dan Wootton’s Centre For Hacks Who Can’t Journalist Good And Want To Do Other Things Good Too).

I am working on further stories of #MediaToo for Byline and have been looking into other claims about Dan Wootton. Please also consider subscribing to this newsletter to help me have the time and resources to keep writing.

From the Wootton archives: