High-profile New Zealand-born journalist and broadcaster Dan Wootton has held back tears on his British TV show this morning (NZT), saying he has been the victim of a smear campaign driven by an ex-partner.

He says he has made “errors of judgment in the past” but has denied any criminal behaviour.

The ex-partner has alleged Wootton used the pseudonym “Martin Branning” to offer individuals, including former colleagues, money in return for filming themselves carrying out sex acts.

The publishers of the Sun – where Wootton used to work – and the Daily Mail – for whom he currently writes a column – say they are looking into the allegations, the Guardian reported.

“I have made errors of judgment in the past but the criminal allegations which have been made against me are simply untrue,” Wootton told his GB News viewers on Tuesday night (Wednesday morning NZT).

Lower Hutt-born Wootton, a former reporter for the Dominion Post in Wellington, told his viewers that “as a journalist, I feel uncomfortable being the story”.

“These past few days, I have been the target of a smear campaign by nefarious players with an axe to grind,” Wootton said.

He described the relationship with his ex as toxic, alleging he had been threatened by him many years after they broke up. He said he had been forced to report his behaviour to police, although it was not clear when he had done that. “They are now investigating.

“He has created an untrue story about me and appears to have been working with an organisation who are intent on closing down this channel whose reporters include a convicted phone hacker,” Wootton said, referring to an independent news website that has picked up the allegations.

Dan Wootton has addressed what he describes as an "untrue story" that he offered individuals money in return for filming themselves carrying out sex acts.

“But the criminal allegations being made against me are simply untrue. I would like nothing more than to address those spurious claims. I could actually spend the next two hours doing so. But on the advice of my lawyers, I cannot comment further.”

He said he had been thinking a lot over the past days “about the current state of social media where any allegation can be made in an attempt to get someone cancelled”.

“It is impossible to defend yourself against thousands of trolls. That said I am coming on air tonight with a lot of humility too.

“I think being in the middle of this witchhunt has made me think about the sort of journalist and broadcaster I aspire to be, one focused on the massive political threats facing this country, not on personal attacks.

“I mean, who doesn’t have regrets?

“Should I be cancelled for them many years later or do you accept that I have learned and changed the last few years?

“I’ve grown professionally and personally, and I’ve also found the meaning of true love after that truly toxic relationship with my ex that hurt me and damaged me.

“I’ve found happiness in my personal life, with my wonderful boyfriend who is here tonight.

“My friends and family are my world. The toll this has taken on their mental health, well, it’s literally killing me to watch.

“Our rush to judge before due process, thanks to the mad ramblings of highly politicised Twitter trolls and revolting blogs that eschew basic journalistic standards, is destroying democracy.”

Wootton was in New Zealand on a holiday to see family last week when the allegations surfaced.

“I recognise I’m a polarising figure and by speaking out in this way, I am opening the gates of hell on my life,” he told his viewers.

“But social media has become a race to the bottom. Pile-ons are the way to cancel a person. Our country is better than that. We must be.”

A spokesperson for News UK, owner of the Sun, told the Guardian: “We are looking into the allegations made in recent days. We are not able to make any further comment at this stage.”

A spokesperson for DMG Media, the owner of the Daily Mail told the Guardian: “We are aware of the allegations and are looking into them.”

Wootton’s time in journalism stretches back to when he was a teenager in Wellington, where he wrote for the Evening Post and Tearaway magazine while he was still at Naenae College.

He became a full-time reporter and writer at the Dominion Post. He headed to the UK at the age of 21, working initially on trade publications before taking on senior writing and editing roles across the next two decades at News of the World, the Daily Mail and the Sun. Now back at the Mail, he has extended his skills to broadcasting and his show beams around the world, thanks to YouTube and social media.

In 2020, Wootton and the Sun were sued for defamation by actor Johnny Depp over an article that said the Hollywood A-list star had assaulted his then-partner Amber Heard. The case made international headlines – Depp lost, although he later went on to successfully sue Heard in a US court.