BBC News presenter Huw Edwards was forced to apologise during Wednesday night’s programme after a reporter mistakenly referred to Bill Clinton in a report on Bill Cosby’s release from prison.
BBC reporter Michelle Fleury spoke live from Philadelphia following the news that a high court had thrown out Cosby’s sexual assault conviction, leading to his early release from prison.
However, during her report, Fleury mistakenly told viewers: “For the last two years this is where Bill Clinton has called home but tonight he will sleep in his own bed after the bombshell decision by Pennsylvania to overturn his conviction of sexual assault.”
At the end of the report, Edwards said back in the BBC News studio: “Just to clarify what was said there in Michelle’s introduction to the story, when she mistakenly said ‘Bill Clinton’ instead of ‘Bill Cosby’.”
“We apologise for the mistake,” he added. “The story, of course, is about Bill Cosby, the entertainer.”
Cosby was sentenced to three-to-10-years in prison back in September 2018, and was the first celebrity to be convicted of sexual assault since the rise of the Me Too movement.
At the time, he was found guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault for the drugging and sexual assault of his one-time friend Andrea Constand at his home in 2004.
On Wednesday, it was ruled that the prosecutor who brought the case was bound by his predecessor’s agreement not to charge the TV star.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court said district attorney Kevin Steele, who made the decision to arrest Cosby, was obliged to stand by his predecessor’s promise not to bring charges.
There was no evidence that promise was ever put in writing.
BBC reporter Michelle Fleury spoke live from Philadelphia following the news that a high court had thrown out Cosby’s sexual assault conviction, leading to his early release from prison.
However, during her report, Fleury mistakenly told viewers: “For the last two years this is where Bill Clinton has called home but tonight he will sleep in his own bed after the bombshell decision by Pennsylvania to overturn his conviction of sexual assault.”
At the end of the report, Edwards said back in the BBC News studio: “Just to clarify what was said there in Michelle’s introduction to the story, when she mistakenly said ‘Bill Clinton’ instead of ‘Bill Cosby’.”
“We apologise for the mistake,” he added. “The story, of course, is about Bill Cosby, the entertainer.”
Cosby was sentenced to three-to-10-years in prison back in September 2018, and was the first celebrity to be convicted of sexual assault since the rise of the Me Too movement.
At the time, he was found guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault for the drugging and sexual assault of his one-time friend Andrea Constand at his home in 2004.
On Wednesday, it was ruled that the prosecutor who brought the case was bound by his predecessor’s agreement not to charge the TV star.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court said district attorney Kevin Steele, who made the decision to arrest Cosby, was obliged to stand by his predecessor’s promise not to bring charges.
There was no evidence that promise was ever put in writing.