Gordon in the morning: Louis Walsh is cleared

The man who made allegations of sexual assault against Louis Walsh has withdrawn the claims, and The Sun couldn't be happier:

SIMON Cowell last night spoke of his joy after close pal Louis Walsh was cleared over false sex assault claims - with the X Factor boss saying he always knew they were rubbish.

Larissa Nolan files a long story about how Louis never touched a man in the toilet:

The man who claimed Louis groped him in a club toilet is now being grilled by cops on suspicion of making a false statement.

Ballroom dance teacher Leonard Watters, 24, was arrested after retracting his complaint.

In fact, The Sun is so delighted Gordon Smart himself writes a little think-piece about how absurd the very idea of the allegations were in the first place:

WHEN I first heard the allegations being made against Louis Walsh I was genuinely shocked.

Ask anyone who knows him - he's one of the nicest blokes in showbiz.

I've known him for seven years and he has always been one of the most friendly, decent and warm characters I have met in the music industry.

There's a lot of this.

Earlier this year we had a night out in Dublin, with some late night drinking.

On those occasions it was obvious to me he hasn't got a bad bone in his body - even after a big drink.

It was obvious.

As soon as I heard the allegations, I rang Louis to let him know that police were investigating. In that phone conversation he categorically denied he had done anything wrong.

What Gordon doesn't mention, of course - and the reason the paper is fawning desperately over a man who doesn't have a bad bone in his body - is that despite knowing what a great bloke he is, and having phoned him and having got a flat denial, the paper still ran the story as a page one splash.

Interestingly, Nolan manages to drop part of Walsh's statement of vindication. Sun readers are told this:

Irish multi-millionaire Louis, 58, said: "I have been informed that I am no longer under investigation. I have robustly maintained from the outset that this alleged incident did not occur.

"This has been a hugely distressing time for me but I would like to thank friends and colleagues for their support.

"I am now just looking forward to getting back to work."

Can you spot the difference with The Guardian report of his statement?

He added that he had instructed his libel lawyer to "vigorously pursue legal action" against the Sun.

"I have robustly maintained from the outset that this alleged incident did not occur. While I obviously welcome today's confirmation from the Garda that the matter has been dropped, I remain outraged that this story ran in the first place in the Sun and I have instructed my libel lawyer to vigorously pursue legal action against the paper," Walsh said.

"I have no intention of letting this matter rest until I have received total and absolute vindication. This has been a hugely distressing time for me but I would like to thank all my friends and colleagues for their support and I am now just looking forward to getting back to work."

So Gordon's flattery looks like a desperate attempt to try and head off Walshs' learned friends.

I'm not sure it's going to help - not just because the news of the dropping of allegations is reported way down Bizarre (after something about Megan Fox and a tale of Wayne Rooney going to the toilet) while the original story was splashed over the front page. More importantly, surely Gordon going into print this morning saying "I didn't believe the story for a moment, and Louis told me it wasn't true" makes the appearance of the allegations on the front page even worse, not better?