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The publisher of MailOnline, DMG Media, has confirmed it has paused Dan Wootton's column, while it considers "a series of allegations" against him, which he denies.

Wootton has a twice-weekly column with MailOnline, the last of which was published on 29 June.

He has previously admitted making "errors of judgement" but strongly denied any criminality in relation to claims made against him.

The disputed allegations include that he used a fake online identity to offer money to individuals pictures of sexually explicit images.

Following the claims last month, the publishers of MailOnline and his previous employers at the Sun newspaper - where he worked between 2013 and 2021 - immediately made separate statements saying they were looking into allegations made against him.

In a new statement, a DMG Media spokesperson said: "The allegations are obviously serious but also complex and historic and there is an independent investigation under way at the media group which employed him during the relevant period.

"In the meantime, his freelance column with MailOnline has been paused."

Last month, the TV presenter and columnist used his self-titled GB News programme to admit he had made "errors of judgement" in the past but branded the "criminal allegations" as "simply untrue".

He said he was the victim of a "witchhunt" by "nefarious players", and that the allegations had been spread by a "race to the bottom" on social media.

During his time at the Sun, Wootton edited the paper's showbiz column Bizarre, and became the paper's executive editor.

He was also previously showbiz editor at the News of the World and appeared on ITV's Lorraine as the programme's showbiz correspondent. He was named showbiz reporter of the year at the British Press Awards three times.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66401554