I think even if the initial approach could take place quietly I'm not sure why the announcement of the reason for removing the apps would be significantly less likely to upset people than the initial announcement in this thread.

If you're completely honest with people about who did what, and people don't like what was done, they're still going to be pissed off. I'm not sure you avoid the anger, or just delay it. Indeed, you could even make it worse if the announcement is at all delayed and people feel like they've been kept in the dark about a serious problem.