Ofcom probe after GB News guest likened Olympian’s child rape to ‘holiday romance’

Ofcom is looking into complaints about a segment on GB News where a guest compared the rape of a 12-year-old girl by a Dutch Olympic athlete to a "very inappropriate holiday romance".

Broadcaster and writer Emma Woolf's remarks about convicted child rapist Steven Van de Velde, who competed in his first Olympic beach volleyball event in Paris, sparked anger on social media.

Van de Velde received a four-year prison sentence in 2016 for confessing to raping a 12-year-old British girl three times when he was 19 years old.

During an appearance on GB News's mid-morning Britain's Newsroom program, Ms. Woolf mentioned that she is acquainted with 12-year-olds who have a lot of attitude and behave like they are 16-year-old girls.

She compared the rape to a "highly improper vacation fling", explaining that "it's really difficult when you mess up... and forgiveness is never an option."

Competing in the Olympics, where Van de Velde has been met with jeers, "must be a very unsettling situation for him," Ms. Woolf indicated. She mentioned that he had "completely changed his life" since the conviction.

She expressed that she believed labeling the Olympian as a child rapist was "too extreme" and not wording she would choose to characterize him.

Ms. Woolf agreed that the sexual assault was unjust and Van de Velde deserved to be found guilty.

The usual GB News contributor was criticized for "victim-blaming" when the conversation was posted on social networking sites.

Martina Navratilova, the former tennis champion, expressed on X: "It is a privilege, not a given right, to represent your country. This man is bringing shame upon his country and goes against the very essence of being a role model for children - and Emma is attempting to shift blame onto the 12-year-old girl for the assault. Truly disgraceful."

The entire video of the conversation reveals Ms. Woolf saying, "If every single thing I did from 12 to 19 was held against me, I'd likely be facing some serious consequences."

Ofcom stated that they had received complaints regarding the conversation that was aired on Monday.

A representative stated: "We are reviewing reports of potential violations of our broadcasting regulations, and will determine if an investigation is necessary."

The regulator will review if the remarks could be harmful and offensive to viewers by downplaying the seriousness of sexual violence. The daytime airing, when kids could be tuning in during school breaks, might make the offense even worse.

The authority will also consider if other hosts questioned Ms. Woolf, who was reminded during the broadcast that the girl was just 12 years old at the time.

Paula Radcliffe had said sorry before for telling Van de Velde "good luck" before he competed for the Netherlands in Paris.

The expert commentator from BBC and former Olympian with four appearances in the games recommended that the beach volleyball player should not face double punishment for his conviction of raping the girl when he was 19 years old.

A potential new inquiry is being considered following Ofcom's announcement of a possible penalty against GB News for breaching impartiality regulations.

The government agency that oversees television broadcasts has discovered that GB News has violated its regulations 12 times since its start in 2021. Additionally, there are six more inquiries that are still ongoing.

A claim of unfairness and invasion of privacy against former host Dan Wootton was dropped this week, according to Ofcom.

GB News did not provide a comment in response to a request.