The couple who run PinkNews, the world’s largest LGBT news website, have been accused by staff of multiple incidents of sexual misconduct.

Several former staff members told the BBC they saw Anthony James, a director at the UK-based company and husband of its founder, kissing and touching a junior colleague who they say appeared too drunk to consent.

And more than 30 current and former members of staff said a culture of heavy drinking led to instances when founder Benjamin Cohen and his husband behaved inappropriately towards younger male employees.

Representatives for Mr Cohen and Dr James told the BBC they were not able to provide a statement at this time, but that their position is that the allegations are false.

Run by family members of Mr Cohen – his husband and former GP Dr James is chief operating officer, and his father Richard is the chief lawyer – PinkNews says its mission is “to inform, inspire change and empower people to be themselves”.

It played an influential role in the campaign for marriage equality in the UK and its annual awards ceremony has attracted prime ministers and other politicians.

Away from the cameras and red carpets, however, multiple former staff members have told the BBC they had experienced bullying and sexual misconduct which made some of them feel unsafe to be alone around Mr Cohen and Dr James. Allegations of misogyny have also emerged and several people told us that some young female members of staff had been asked to act as the couple’s surrogates.

As well as interviewing 33 people who worked at PinkNews between 2017 and 2024, we have also seen a variety of evidence including official written complaints, private emails and WhatsApp messages sharing staff members’ concerns, plus doctors’ records referring to stress and mental health struggles attributed to the work environment at PinkNews.

Five former members of staff told the BBC they had witnessed Dr James groping and kissing a junior member of staff, who they said was “too drunk to stand or talk” and “unable to consent”.

The alleged incident happened outside a central London pub, where staff had gathered after a PinkNews event.

A former PinkNews staff member, who we are calling Gary, said Dr James had led the junior colleague behind a tree. “Anthony was just forcing himself on somebody who wasn’t able to make that decision for themselves because of how intoxicated they were,” he said.

People at the event said they helped the alleged victim get home in a taxi.

But several former members of staff who said they witnessed the incident told us they were too scared to complain. One person said: “It’s the CEO’s husband, what are you going to do? Lose your job?”

A complaint about the incident was made later by a staff member, and was shared with several members of the senior leadership team at PinkNews. The BBC has been shown multiple copies of the complaint but has been unable to establish whether any action was taken as a result.

Many of the former employees said staff socials or awaydays often involved drinking until the early hours of the morning and that “Prosecco Friday” – where staff would be given free wine and crisps – was introduced in the office in an effort to boost staff morale.

Another former staff member we are calling Damian said he personally experienced inappropriate behaviour from Mr Cohen during an evening at the pub after work.

“Ben was extremely drunk to the point he fell off his chair, and then asked me out of earshot of my other colleagues whether I wanted to go back to his […] because Anthony his husband wasn’t there,” Damian said.

“He said something along the lines of ‘Anthony is always getting with other men’ and the suggestion was we would do something sexually. I was extremely uncomfortable.”

Damian said after that night, he avoided being alone with Mr Cohen for the rest of his time at PinkNews.

“I never heard about it again, no apology,” he said. “It put me on alert because it made me realise it was a boundary he thought he could cross.”

Stephan Kyriacou, who worked at PinkNews between 2019 and 2021, said the job had started as a “dream come true” where he did not have to “hide who I was or pretend”, but the dream was soon “shattered”.

During a Christmas party, Mr Kyriacou said, Mr Cohen had slapped him on the bottom in front of everyone else.

“I just shut down for a minute. I didn’t know what to say. I was in shock. I remember turning to my friends and saying, ‘What the hell just happened?'”

Mr Kyriacou said he no longer felt comfortable enough to be alone around his boss.

He said: “That just made me completely avoid him. I don’t remember ever speaking to him one-on-one after that.”

Other staff also voiced their concerns about Mr Cohen, Mr Kyriacou said, with several messages in a group chat describing him as a “creep” and staff saying they did not feel comfortable around him.

“None of us really felt like we could complain because we didn’t know what was going to happen to us. Ben is very well-known and we didn’t know whether he was going to badmouth us to people,” Mr Kyriacou said.

Staff have told us they were shouted at and belittled by Mr Cohen, and that there was a “toxic” culture at the company.

“He can be quite brutal in the way he speaks to you,” said Damian. “When things go wrong he’d come down on you like a tonne of bricks and so you were just in this constant state of emotional flux.

“He put extreme pressures on me to the point I would go home and cry. It caused issues in my own personal relationship with my partner, and then [Benjamin] would love-bomb me and I would think everything was alright.”

Cai Wilshaw, former head of external affairs at PinkNews, said: “You had this sort of dark cloud in the office sometimes when Ben was there, that made it really difficult to actually enjoy working there.

“We worked together quite well, but it is clear that he is a very, very difficult character, and sometimes overly so in a way that really impacted people who worked with him.”

Some staff members also said they had witnessed what they called “misogynistic” behaviour.

Several people said that on occasions young, female members of staff had been asked to act as a surrogate for Mr Cohen and Dr James.

They say that often the request was delivered as a joke, but that it had made people feel “awkward and uncomfortable”.

One anonymous staff member called it “creepy and sleazy”, while another called it “part and parcel” of how “misogynistic” PinkNews was.

Many of the staff who spoke to the BBC said they hope the culture at PinkNews can change so it can continue to tell stories relevant to the LGBT community.

“It’s important because the mainstream media doesn’t often report on whatever’s happening to trans or queer people,” said Stephan Kyriacou. “I think if it can be overhauled, that will make a massive difference.”

Gary said there was a need for “authentic queer-led journalism and queer-led stories” but said “unfortunately PinkNews has kind of lost its credibility in that arena”.

Damian told us he believed PinkNews’ future could only be secured if Mr Cohen and Dr James took a step back.

“The fact you cannot separate the two is extremely problematic,” he said. “Ben needs to be held to account. Until the day that happens, I don’t know if there’s a future for PinkNews.”

The BBC was informed that Mr Cohen and Dr James were not able to provide a statement at this time, but we understand that their position is that the allegations made against them are false.