Scott Mills

[ButtonDownTheHutches]

I once knew someone who had this job at the BBC. They had to watch the entire back catalogue of anything that might ever air again, and write down everyone who appeared or was mentioned in it. Like "Have I Got News For You, episode 500, Ian Hislop mentions Kate Moss at 05.29." So if anyone featured was ever cancelled, they could find out where they were, and cut them from the episode. Apparently it began after Savile was outed and they had to stop showing his TOTP2 episodes.

This is fascinating; I've flippantly joked in the past that 'Archive De-Noncer' was probably a necessary job role at the BBC, and it turns out that this is actually the case!!

 

[PickledRadish]

I think the BBC has gone zero tolerance now & that has come at Scott's expense.

I just can't get my head round any of it, and honestly as this moment in time think he met someone they told him they were older was a fling like relationship not a serious/proper relationship and off the back of all the Yewtree stuff he went to the police in 2016 and then by 2019 not enough evidence was found so is innocent. Not condoning anything but back in the 90s things were different, I was going out to night clubs at 16 but I had friends that were 15...

I’m not proud to admit this, but there are men out there who I told I was 17 or 18 when I was no older than 15. Honestly, possibly 14. It was the same sort of era. I certainly looked the part.

I’m trying to withhold judgment until more comes out on this story but I can’t help but feel sad for Scott at the moment.

 

[GingerJones50]

If that was the case, do you not think that would have magically been leaked to the media already?

Also, I really doubt that in the 90s I would look at someone under the age of 16 and think "aye they're quite attractive...", come on now.

You weren’t around in the 90s then I guess. Adults sleeping with underage people, girls in particular, was something the authorities turned a total blind eye to between the mid 90s and mid 00s. It was completely common for men in their 20s to be named as the father of an under 16s baby on a birth certificate and no action would be taken. The grooming gangs inquiry revealed that the Labour government took an official line that younger teenagers were capable of taking informed decisions about sexual activity and the age of consent was rarely legally enforced.

For years the age of consent was more of a guideline than a law, relationships between teens under the age of consent and people in their early 20s were much, much more societally accepted. Attitudes have undergone a huge sea change in the last 15 years or so.

 

[GrunkaLunka]

It's been a tough week for his colleagues.

It's been a tougher week for victims of sexual offences, who are sick of being asked "What did you do to make this happen? Why didn't you immediately go to the police? Why should that lovely man from the radio lose his job just because he was tricked into kissing a boy using a fake ID?"

We don't know what happened, but what we do know is that he wasn't cleared of anything, he is alleged to have committed serious sexual offences over a period of three years and the alleged victim was under 16 years old.

As a decent human being, with a natural instinct to protect children and vulnerable people, my immediate thoughts are with the victim(s) and I cannot think of any logical reason why I would be looking for ways to discredit him(them).

 

[InkHeart]

3 episodes of Top of the Pops presented by Mills due to be shown on BBC 4 over the next few weeks will now be skipped over. Does this mean the BBC will remove anything he's ever appeared in off iPlayer? That's a hell of a lot of TV to bury.

I once knew someone who had this job at the BBC. They had to watch the entire back catalogue of anything that might ever air again, and write down everyone who appeared or was mentioned in it. Like "Have I Got News For You, episode 500, Ian Hislop mentions Kate Moss at 05.29." So if anyone featured was ever cancelled, they could find out where they were, and cut them from the episode. Apparently it began after Savile was outed and they had to stop showing his TOTP2 episodes.

 

[Marchioness Cha-Cha]

I'm new to tattle and have been reading this thread with interest, despite not knowing who Scott Mills is.
It's fascinating reading the different ideas, thanks everyone, and it's really made me look at my own values. In fact I recently had a disagreement with my son who said it was disgusting that I went out with a 21 year old when I was 15. I'd never approve of my child doing that, of course.

It's hard to get my head around that because we dated for years and to be honest he was probably the best boyfriend I ever had (and I'm mid-50's now!). But I've recently started to think of other situations I had as a teen and realise that I was badly taken advantage of. So I know it isn't an excuse, but for me it 'was' different back then.
It's actually great to see that attitudes are changing.

Sorry for the gobbledegook, I'm surprised how much emotion this thread has brought up in me.

No idea what SM has done, but it ain't good. Hope justice is served and the victim is well-supported.

 

[GingerSquid]

I work in the industry and there is a huge culture of older gay guys with a penchant for very young twinks. When I was acting in the 00s it was a lot more brazen (“Kevin will love you” - said to a tiny 17 year old ballet dancer) and in recent years, more covert, but still very much alive and kicking (as we saw with Schofield). People dare not talk about it for fear of being branded homophobic. The younger looking and prettier the better. I’ve seen so much of it that I won’t allow my very pretty son to persue a career in dance, music, acting etc. It can be relentless, and I know of guys who are now married to women who did things with older guys in training or at the start of their careers as they were groomed into feeling obligated to. I am much more concerned about my son with SA than my daughter. We don’t talk enough about male victims as they are perceived as being more “up for it” and to criticise the twink culture is risky ground for being labelled homophobic. This is coming from someone who trained in musical theatre and has many amazing gay mates, it’s just one of the darker sides of gay culture that’s not spoken about enough IMO.

 

[VeniVidiVicki]

Absolutely agree. He was cleared so why now? It all seems very unfair and almost like he’s a scapegoat from the BBC, who have let a lot of sex offenders slip through their net. A bit like “look at what we CAN do”

No, he wasn’t cleared. The CPS said there wasn’t enough evidence to secure a conviction which isn’t the same thing.
Most rapes and sexual assaults never make it to court

 

[savedlatin21]

I’m not sure how I feel about this. A historic allegation from 30 years ago, that he was investigated for and nothing came of it. Now having his career and reputation cancelled and ruined for good. It does feel unfair

 

[HotesTilaire]

He wasn’t legally cleared - the CPS didn't find enough evidence to proceed.

Unfortunately that means it’s in legal limbo - can’t be progressed, can’t be undone. It could be he did something bad, it could be he’s being unfairly accused by a person with issues.

I think it’s difficult for the BBC to say they didn’t know/he didn’t declare it given the BBC reported on it at the time (no they didn’t, I got mixed up) but who knows.

This is a minefield because the victim has a right to anonymity, Scott’s reputation career and earnings have taken a hit, the public doesn’t have a right to know why he was sacked. He is allowed to say nothing, as he’s doing. Yet because of the suspicion and info vacuum the public and the media are going to keep picking it apart until there’s more details, correct or not.

 

[Traazers]

https://archive.is/cOT0O

He can't believe it's all happening.

Well it isn't going to go away until the full details come out.

I wonder who would play him when Netflix decide to do a drama about it

Sheridan Smith

 

[DoreenMachine]

Some people on this thread seem frustrated by the lack of facts and info that has been released and are now splitting hairs regarding definitions and terminology when really there's no need to.

It's quite clear that an individual under the age of 16 would be referred to as a boy when speaking about a historic assault, as he's being discussed in the past tense. If we're talking about the victim currently then obviously man would be used to describe him.

It's really not that difficult to comprehend

 

[CrackingOwlSanctuary]

I was abused when I was very young and didn't properly remember/understand it until I was in my 30s.

 

[ButtonDownTheHutches]

Not condoning anything at all id like to state before i go on

This person accusing scott and going to the papers as it looks like they are,why now? Why would you not say something sooner? Something dont feel right about this coming out now

Because they've seen Philip Schofield, Huw Edwards, Russell Brand, Greg Wallace, Noel Clarke, Tim Westwood, Harvey Weinstein, Jeffrey Epstein, Andrew MBW, et al being held to account in recent years and feel like now their allegations would be taken more seriously?

 

[VeniVidiVicki]

But they didn't drop it - the CPS declined to take it forwards.

I think we've covered that the age of gay consent was lowered to 16 in 2000. So that would mean if the victim were under 18 they would not be considered underage.

What is a twink? Because I thought it was a very young, barely legal, "pretty boy"? That post is interesting because I wondered about a fear of being seen as homophobic on the Huw Edwards thread.

But if they were underage when the age of consent was 18, they were still underage if they were under 16.

The twink thing is absolutely a thing and it’s not homophobic to think it’s no better than straight blokes wanting teenagers. It’s about men. Sexuality is irrelevant. Gay men shouldn't get a free pass for being creepy fuckers but they do right now. Stephen Fry is a case in point.
What pisses me off is this enables homophobia. Most gay men aren’t dodgy fuckers, so we all need to criticise the ones who are to stop the rest of them being tarred with the same brush by people who are homophobic

 

[Yoyolady]

Wow a lot of you are really trying to make excuses for the fact that he was involved with a CHILD. And by involved I mean groomed/abused. I don’t care how many years ago it was. That’s FUCKED UP.

 

[MrsDon1]

What if Scott says he believed the boy was 18? I was under 16 in the 90’s and going to nightclubs, looking and acting a lot older and lying about my age when asked so if they met in a club, would it be a fair assumption that he was at least 18?
It is hard to look at the 90’s with 2026 brains as they were very different times.

 

[RinsedHoops]

I find it interesting that there are a number of people determined to find the most charitable explanation of what happened, in a way that I’ve not seen in other scandals like this. The BBC are also being criticised for doing what initially seemed like the opposite to the thing they were criticised for with Huw Edwards.

Given it’s been reported that the BBC is in contact with the alleged victim , it seems he’s been in contact with the BBC and raised this with them. They were already aware Scott had been interviewed in 2016 and now they have the victim giving his story. We were all incensed when the BBC ignored the complaint from the family about Huw Edwards. Perhaps they’ve acted decisively to try to avoid a similar situation. Especially if there’s been a mention of going to the media

 

[Nelly's mum]

Why are posters going on about a band that has nothing to do with the subject of the thread??
Olly Alexander and RTD ffs??

 

[Merpedy]

Aged 24, at the start of his career, with an on off relationship, which could mean anything, with a 16 year old boy.

Serious sexual offenses with someone under the age of 16...

Though I don't know how you could write the quoted bit and not find that alone questionable for someone with a position of power