David Sullivan is a relic – the day of the celebrity ‘porn baron’ is over. But the vileness he peddled is much worse now | Joan Smith

While he denies wrongdoing, Sullivan traded on the idea of womens’ bodies as consumable objects. His terrible era laid the ground for the 21st-century porn industry

There was a time, not so long ago, when female breasts appeared daily in some national newspapers. It was part of a culture that stripped and infantilised women, presenting very young “girls” with a nod and a wink, as though it was all a joke. Feminists who objected were dismissed as killjoys, even though the campaign against what became known as “Page 3” was ultimately successful.

This week’s Panorama programme revisited that era, focusing on the alleged activities of one man, David Sullivan, who made a fortune from sex shops and sleazy tabloid newspapers. The allegations against Sullivan, which he angrily denies, are that he “interviewed” young women at his mansion in Essex and demanded sex in return for furthering their careers as “glamour models”. The women’s stories were horrible.

Joan Smith is an author, journalist and a former chair of the mayor of London’s violence against women and girls board