The BBC has apologised after it “missed opportunities that might have led to action” following claims of “bullying and misogynistic behaviour” against former Radio One star Tim Westwood.
It comes after the publication of an independent external review carried out into Westwood‘s conduct during his time at the broadcaster, which found there were “a range of factors which ought to have alerted the BBC” to the possibility that he “might present a risk to young women and girls”.
The DJ declined to take part in the review. In a statement for the report sent through his solicitors, he strongly denied his behaviour “ever amounted to bullying or harassment”, and said some people “behaved poorly towards” him.
People who reported allegations against Westwood told the review’s author, Gemma White KC, they were “concerned that they would not be believed or might be blamed” for his alleged behaviour.
The DJ was “very popular so no one wanted to listen”, one person said.
“A common theme amongst those who reported allegations was that they did not know or understand at the time that the behaviour which they had described to me was wrong,” the report found. “Some said they had only realised when they were older, or recently.
“One person referred to not understanding at the time what sexual assault was.”
One alleged victim Westwood’s conduct as being “so public” and “brazen”, the report stated, and members of the BBC production team were left “upset and in tears” as a result of his alleged bullying and harassment.
The report read: “People referred to Tim Westwood refusing to talk to some of his BBC production team members, ‘freezing them out’ and giving them the ‘silent treatment’.
“Many told me that they, and others, found it very difficult to work with him.
The Metropolitan Police previously said detectives were investigating accusations of offences alleged to have happened between 1982 and 2016.
Westwood began his career on local radio before joining Capital Radio in London.
He then moved to the BBC and left Radio 1 and Radio 1Xtra after nearly 20 years in 2013. He hosted a regular Saturday show on Capital Xtra, where he was referred to as “The Big Dawg”, before he left the company in 2022.
In their statement for the review, Westwood’s lawyers said he had complained about “negative behaviour” towards him when he worked for 1Xtra and was “essentially advised to rise above it”.
He also said after a move to a new slot in 2009, “the environment felt competitive and hostile” and was “toxic from the outset”.
On some occasions, Westwood “took issue with some of his colleagues’ poor attitude to work and low productivity, and expressed his opinion that they were lazy and out of touch with the audience”, his lawyers’ statement said. “He accepts that this contributed to a divisive atmosphere within some of the teams with which he worked.”
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