Calls for Esther Rantzen to quit charity over Savile rumours (From Daily Echo)
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Hampshire TV star Esther Rantzen urged to stand down from charity over Savile rumours
7:00am Monday 15th October 2012 in News
By Melanie Adams, Health Reporter
Calls for Esther Rantzen to quit charity over Savile rumours
HAMPSHIRE TV star Esther Rantzen last night tried to distance herself from the controversy surrounding Jimmy Savile as she faces new calls to resign from a charity.
The founder of ChildLine, who lives in Bramshaw in the New Forest, said she could not recall ever having a conversation with abuse campaigner Shy Keenan about rumour's of Savile's serial sex abuse of young girls.
But the allegations that she failed to act 18 years ago has led the National Association for People Abused in Childhood to consider her position as patron of the charity.
However, the veteran broadcaster insisted that while she did hear rumours, she never heard or saw any evidence and would have acted upon it if she had.
Ms Rantzen said: “I don't mean any disrespect to the lady but I don't remember any conversation with her.
“I have had a great many conversations with people over the years and whenever possible I have investigated what people told me and told the police and social services.
“I never heard anything from a child or from anyone who worked with him. The rumours I heard were from people who never met him and they could have easily been as false as they were true.
“If we had any sort of evidence we would have reported it immediately to the police.”
Police have revealed that Savile's alleged catalogue of abuse could have spanned six decades and have so far identified around 60 potential victims, including two from Hampshire.
The scandal has mushroomed since ITV screened a documentary in which five women alleged they were abused by the late DJ and broadcaster and the BBC have announced two inquiries will be launched into the allegations.
Comments(24)
St Retford
says...
9:22am Mon 15 Oct 12
sotonboy84
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9:26am Mon 15 Oct 12
hulla baloo wrote:But we don't know if she knew more, that's just speculation on your behalf.
True or false, rumours of this magnitude and severity deserve to be investigated. If she did know more than she is letting on, then she is no better than he is for allowing it to continue unchallenged.
She said that she had only heard rumours from people that had never met Sir Jimmy.
sotonboy84
says...
9:28am Mon 15 Oct 12
St Retford wrote:Spot on.
90% of the people in this country were aware there were rumours about Savile and we did nothing either. Why? Because, like Rantzen, we had no evidence either. Should we all have to resign from our jobs as well?
Lockssmart
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9:37am Mon 15 Oct 12
hulla baloo
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9:41am Mon 15 Oct 12
sotonboy84 wrote:She is on a personal public image damage limitation exercise. In her day, she was quite a powerful person and opened many doors to important people. I feel sure she knows a lot more than she is letting on, but kept quiet for her own career, probably the same as many others did.
hulla baloo wrote:But we don't know if she knew more, that's just speculation on your behalf.
True or false, rumours of this magnitude and severity deserve to be investigated. If she did know more than she is letting on, then she is no better than he is for allowing it to continue unchallenged.
She said that she had only heard rumours from people that had never met Sir Jimmy.
Here, There
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9:57am Mon 15 Oct 12
Huey
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10:06am Mon 15 Oct 12
mbetts
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10:21am Mon 15 Oct 12
Frank28
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10:42am Mon 15 Oct 12
The Wickham Man
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11:03am Mon 15 Oct 12
freefinker
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11:16am Mon 15 Oct 12
http://www.dailyecho
.co.uk/news/9333859.
Jimmy_Savile_dies/
The Wickham Man
says...
12:22pm Mon 15 Oct 12
freefinker wrote:Why is it "interesting"? Do you intend to draw some kind of conclusion that everyone knew all about his private life and were keeping it quiet? Do you imagine all those posters were prescient? Or that they had access to all the celebrity inside info that nobody else had? What a bizarre conspiracy-riddled person you must be.
.. interesting to see what a few current regulars said at the time of his death.
http://www.dailyecho
.co.uk/news/9333859.
Jimmy_Savile_dies/
freefinker
says...
12:25pm Mon 15 Oct 12
The Wickham Man wrote:.. no, that's entirely YOUR conclusion.
freefinker wrote:Why is it "interesting"? Do you intend to draw some kind of conclusion that everyone knew all about his private life and were keeping it quiet? Do you imagine all those posters were prescient? Or that they had access to all the celebrity inside info that nobody else had? What a bizarre conspiracy-riddled person you must be.
.. interesting to see what a few current regulars said at the time of his death.
http://www.dailyecho
.co.uk/news/9333859.
Jimmy_Savile_dies/
Lone Ranger.
says...
12:49pm Mon 15 Oct 12
The Wickham Man wrote:Slightly over the top reaction.
freefinker wrote:Why is it "interesting"? Do you intend to draw some kind of conclusion that everyone knew all about his private life and were keeping it quiet? Do you imagine all those posters were prescient? Or that they had access to all the celebrity inside info that nobody else had? What a bizarre conspiracy-riddled person you must be.
.. interesting to see what a few current regulars said at the time of his death.
http://www.dailyecho
.co.uk/news/9333859.
Jimmy_Savile_dies/
.
I just saw it as posting on someone who had been considered as a bit of a good bloke .................... Obviously had people known then what thwy know now then the comments would have been different.
.
As for Ester ........... making her a bit of a scapegoat a bit unfair ........ Axs there are now a number of well known people that had ideas that all was not correct ...... but said nothing
sass
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1:09pm Mon 15 Oct 12
St Retford wrote:So the only ones who didn't hear these rumours were the police?
90% of the people in this country were aware there were rumours about Savile and we did nothing either. Why? Because, like Rantzen, we had no evidence either. Should we all have to resign from our jobs as well?
Carthage
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1:39pm Mon 15 Oct 12
roofspace
says...
3:52pm Mon 15 Oct 12
southy
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4:27pm Mon 15 Oct 12
roofspace wrote:That was Top Rank Dance Hall they opened up, the Mecca Ball room on the pier was doing a Sunday night Disco before the Top Rank was even built, also the Surrey arms use to do a weekend night club up stairs when the Rose Family ran that Pub.
The only person in Jimmy Saviles' life was Jimmy Savile. As for his charity work I very much doubt he ever donated any of his own money. He opened the first disco in Southampton back in the 60's along with the resident DJ Johnny Dymond who in his spare time did broadcasts for the local hospital radio run by Toc H. He decided to record an interview with him for the patients but Savile refused to speak into the microphone unless he was given £200 (when the average wage was about £18 a week). Needless to say the patients never heard the interview.
bazzeroz
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7:23pm Mon 15 Oct 12
Lockssmart wrote:I was talking to her in Sainsburys today and she said she couldn't stand you either!
Can't stand the woman.
Lockssmart
says...
8:10pm Mon 15 Oct 12
rickey
says...
9:37pm Mon 15 Oct 12
This has become an hysterical witch hunt against a person who is dead! There will be no trial and no defence only a media inspired demolition of Saville's reputation with people lining up to get their share of the pot. Other people like Rantzen are attempting to distance themselves from the affair. She says that Seville was too powerful at the time but she headed a program like watchdog which exposed wrong doing and her husband was Desmond Wilcox who was a BBC executive as well as documentary filmmaker. It does seem that there are people jumping on the bandwagon to either accuse him of abuse or to make excuses why they did nothing at the time, particularly when they think they may be dragged into the sordid affair by association. For people who were not around in the 60's and 70's don't forget this was the era of 'sex and drugs and rock n roll' so don't be too surprised about the sex aspect. Famous pop stars with lots of young girls eager to do what ever their idol wanted. Look at the Beatles films and performances, mostly very young girls screaming and wanting to be with their idols, are you naive to believe that nothing happened. So we might find that Seville is indeed a dirty old man but don't think that he was the only one and if the witch hunt continues then sooner or later all our idols will fall.
Here, There
says...
1:08am Tue 16 Oct 12
roofspace
says...
4:17pm Tue 16 Oct 12
southy wrote:The disco in question was "The Adam & Eve". I was friendly with Johnny Diamond and sometimes helped him out when he used to DJ at the Pier and the Guildhall. He was the one who told me about Savile and how he bragged about always carrying a wad of money (about £1000) in rolls in his pocket and proved it by showing it to him. Then asked the charity to give him £200.
roofspace wrote:That was Top Rank Dance Hall they opened up, the Mecca Ball room on the pier was doing a Sunday night Disco before the Top Rank was even built, also the Surrey arms use to do a weekend night club up stairs when the Rose Family ran that Pub.
The only person in Jimmy Saviles' life was Jimmy Savile. As for his charity work I very much doubt he ever donated any of his own money. He opened the first disco in Southampton back in the 60's along with the resident DJ Johnny Dymond who in his spare time did broadcasts for the local hospital radio run by Toc H. He decided to record an interview with him for the patients but Savile refused to speak into the microphone unless he was given £200 (when the average wage was about £18 a week). Needless to say the patients never heard the interview.
hulla baloo says...
7:58am Mon 15 Oct 12