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Tim Westwood leaves Capital Xtra following sexual misconduct allegations
By Andy Malt | Published on Thursday 28 April 2022
Tim Westwood has “stepped down” from his Capital Xtra show following those allegations of sexual misconduct.
In a statement yesterday, a spokesperson for Capital owner Global said: “Following the claims that have recently come to light, Tim Westwood has stepped down from his show until further notice”.
Seven women made allegations against the hip hop DJ earlier this week, as part of a joint investigation by the BBC and The Guardian and in a BBC Three documentary. Three women said that the presenter pressured them into sex after agreeing to meet them to discuss their careers in music, while four others say that he groped them while posing for photos at events.
In a statement, a rep for Westwood said: “Tim Westwood strongly denies all allegations of inappropriate behaviour. In a career that has spanned 40 years, there have never been any complaints made against him officially or unofficially. Tim Westwood strongly rejects all allegations of wrongdoing”.
Speaking to The Guardian, BBC boss Tim Davie said that the accusations were “shocking” and “appalling” and urged others to come forward, saying that “every complaint has to be taken seriously”.
Davie, who was head of the BBC’s radio output while Westwood was still working at the organisation, said that he had “seen no evidence” that any complaints had been made during the presenter’s time working at Radio 1 and 1Xtra.
“It is shocking and the testimony of the women is powerful and appalling”, said Davie. “I credit the BBC and Guardian teams for going after the story”.
“I’ve seen no evidence of [earlier] complaints [to the BBC]”, he went on. “I’ve asked and we looked at our records and we’ve seen no evidence. Every complaint has to be taken seriously. If anything comes up we will investigate it fully. If people have evidence where things weren’t followed up or they have concern in this area bring it to us … we will follow up anything and we will dig and dig and dig. If people have got evidence of wrongdoing we need to bring it forward”.
The seven women who came forward for the BBC and Guardian’s existing investigation reportedly did so after Westwood denied accusations made via an anonymous Twitter account in 2020. It remains to be seen if further women will come forward now.
