BBC News invited Alan Dershowitz to comment on the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell Wednesday after she was found guilty of five sex trafficking counts related to her former serial sex offender boyfriend, Jeffrey Epstein. The network is now issuing an apology for the lack of transparency and noticeable conflict of interest.
Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre directly named Dershowitz as one of the men (Giuffre also named Prince Andrew in the case) Epstein and Maxwell allegedly forced her to have sex with repeatedly when she was underage. Dershowitz has denied the allegations, Rolling Stone reported.
“I think the most important thing, particularly for British viewers, is that the government was very careful who it used as witnesses,” Dershowitz said. “It did not use as a witness the woman who accused Prince Andrew, accused me, accused many other people because the government didn’t believe she was telling the truth.”
Dershowitz was Introduced only as a “constitutional lawyer” when he appeared in the segment to defend Maxwell and used the opportunity to defend his defamation countersuit. He also called into question Giuffre’s credibility. Now, the network is apologizing for booking Dershowitz.
“Last night’s interview with Alan Dershowitz after the Ghislaine Maxwell verdict did not meet the BBC’s editorial standards, as Mr. Dershowitz was not a suitable person to interview as an impartial analyst, and we did not make the relevant background clear to our audience,” the news release read. “We will look into how this happened.”