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Pete Townshend of The Who has revealed that Keir Starmer, the current Leader of the Opposition in the UK, was the lawyer who challenged him in the musician’s infamous child pornography case. In 2003, it was discovered that Townshend had paid to view a child pornography site, prompting a police investigation.
The Who star claimed that he was researching for a campaign against pedophilia for his memoir, where he believed he may have been sexually abused as a child: “You have to know what’s out there.” Townshend admitted his actions were “insane”, saying it was a result of “white knight syndrome, an attempt to be seen to be the one that’s helping.” He was eventually cautioned and placed on the sex offenders list for five years afterwards.
In a recent profile, Townshend shared that he was challenged by Starmer to either go to court to make his case clear or to accept a caution. Ultimately, Townshend accepted the caution, and the police later accepted his motives and chose not to charge him. The musician also opened up about the ongoing impact of the case on his life.
Recently, Townshend released his first single in nearly 30 years, ‘Can’t Outrun The Truth’, with proceeds going to the Teenage Cancer Trust, whose annual concerts at the Royal Albert Hall had been axed due to the pandemic. The song is inspired by mental health and the difficulty of the pandemic for those who had family members suffering from cancer.
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