PinkNews: Inside the misconduct scandal tearing the LGBTQ+ publisher apart
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Inside a shining office block in Whitechapel sits the headquarters of PinkNews, the world’s largest LGBTQ+ news website. When PinkNews was first founded by 23-year-old Benjamin Cohen in July 2005, it was a revolution. The first major gay online news outlet in Britain, as well as one of the first in the world, staffed by a young, enigmatic gay man, who also happened to be Britain’s first dotcom millionaire. Cohen ran the website with a skeleton staff; one other full-time editor and a handful of freelancers. He was touted in the press as a British Zuckerberg.
Nearly 20 years on, things at PinkNews are decidedly less cutting edge. Last week, a BBC documentary which spoke to 30 current and former staffers at PinkNews found Cohen, 42, and his husband, former GP and chief operating officer of PinkNews Dr Anthony James, to be at the centre of a storm that involved allegations of sexual misconduct and bullying.
As part of those claims, one former staff member alleges they saw James kissing and touching a PinkNews employee at a work party while they were “too drunk to stand or talk” and “unable to consent”. Another employee made claims of inappropriate touching by Cohen. James has already been removed from his role at Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust due to the allegations, pending an investigation.
After days of silence, Cohen and James are finally fighting back. The pair have “strenuously denied” the allegations, calling them “false, inconsistent and malicious”. In response, they are also claiming that criminal offences were committed against them and that they have reported such offences to the police.
