The BBC has apologised over the ‘missed opportunities’ to stop the ‘misogynistic behaviour’ of Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood.
An independent report commissioned in 2022 was published today and revealed there was a ‘considerable body of evidence’ that the broadcaster failed to investigate fully.
‘Many people’ had raised concerns about the way the hip-hop DJ, 67, treated people on air where he would repeatedly joke about women’s breasts.
Westwood was also alleged to have mimed grabbing a student’s breasts who had been invited to appear on the 1Xtra drivetime show and told her someone ‘would get lost in there’.
The report, which was led by barrister Gemma White KC and cost approximately £3.3million, found there were ‘missed opportunities that might have led to action’, however, there was no evidence of predatory sexual behaviour.
Westwood has previously strongly denied ‘all allegations of inappropriate behaviour’, along with any wrongdoing.
Today, the BBC Board admitted ‘at times’ it ‘did not take adequate action’.
The BBC Board said: ‘It is worth noting, at the outset, that the report finds there was no widespread or significant BBC knowledge of allegations or concerns about predatory sexual behaviour by Mr Westwood.
‘It is clear, however, that there were instances where the organisation missed opportunities that might have led to action. Allegations were treated in isolation rather than being brought together.
‘Had this happened, the BBC may have seen a pattern of behaviour that it could have acted on.
‘Beyond assessing any alleged criminality, which is a matter for the police, it is clear there were times where the BBC, on learning about concerns regarding Mr Westwood’s behaviour, did not take adequate action.
‘There is evidence of bullying and misogynistic behaviour on the part of Mr Westwood and the plain fact is that his general conduct was entirely incompatible with BBC values – not just now, but then.
‘The organisation fell short and failed people – including our own staff – who had a right to expect better from us.’
Ms White found Westwood’s alleged conduct was a ‘factor’ in the decision not to renew his contract in 2013.
She said the head of programmes and commissioning editor, at the time, claimed the decision to take Westwood off his ‘daytime drivetime show announced in May 2012’ was ‘in part because he was creating a toxic atmosphere in the studio’ and the need for younger talent, and his rap show was not renewed in 2013 for similar reasons.
The employee told the review Westwood was ‘unpopular amongst BBC staff because of his behaviour’ and his ‘shock jock’ style had come at the cost of overstepping the mark on several occasions.
Other factors he mentioned included Westwood having an argument with ‘an artist which had led to a physical alteration, the negative social media, the fact his persona was being mocked by Sacha Baron Cohen as Ali G, and The Sun inquiry meant there was an unacceptable level of “noise”.’
Westwood’s lawyers told the report that the radio shake-up was due to ‘new management’, and he ‘was not made aware of any other reason for the decision at the time’.
The report said ‘many people’ raised concerns about the way Westwood treated people on air, including jokes about women’s breasts.
It read: ‘Tim Westwood’s 1Xtra drivetime show followed what is known as the ‘zoo format’, with members of the production team and others in the studio (such as newsreaders) being brought into conversations and many people raised concerns about the way in which Tim Westwood treated people on air.
‘There are repeated examples of Tim Westwood discussing, or referring to, the bodies of those who were in the studio with him and of jokes at their expense.
‘One of the most frequent concerns raised with me was about Tim Westwood’s on-air references to people’s bodies, and in particular women’s breasts, often by euphemism.
‘The Review Team listened to a selection of 1Xtra drivetime shows, within which there are multiple examples of Tim Westwood speaking about the bodies of people in the studio with him and referring to their breasts using words such as ‘rack’, ‘stack’, ‘those two things under your blouse’.
‘I did not hear of any allegation of inappropriate sexual contact with BBC colleagues and no BBC employee who worked with Tim Westwood told me that they regarded inappropriate sexualised language that Tim Westwood is alleged to have used about them to be a sexual advance.’
The BBC Board further said they ‘take this opportunity to apologise on behalf of the entire BBC to anyone impacted by what the review has found. Your voice has been heard, and the findings of the review will further fuel the drive to ensure it does not happen again’.
The BBC Board commissioned the report to examine what was known about DJ Westwood’s alleged conduct during his time at the corporation.
It has been delayed at various points and in December the BBC paused its publication of the report at the request of the Metropolitan Police.
Westwood spent nearly two decades at the BBC, before departing Radio 1 and Radio 1Xtra in 2013.
In the report, the barrister leading the review said Westwood declined to take part but his lawyers provided a statement.
It said he ‘strongly denies that his behaviour ever amounted to bullying or harassment’, and said some people ‘behaved poorly towards’ him.
The statement said he ‘complained to the controller about this negative behaviour at the time and he was essentially advised to rise above it’.
Mr Westwood also said that his decision to move to a new time slot in 2009 was ‘political, and the production staff made it clear that they did not agree with it’.
‘The environment felt competitive and hostile,’ he said.
‘It was toxic from the outset. Mr Westwood worked incredibly hard on the show and had high standards.
‘On certain occasions, he 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.
‘He accepts that this contributed to a divisive atmosphere within some of the teams with which he worked.’
An allegation from a BBC employee was made to Ms White, that claimed Westwood was seen with a ‘young girl’ or possibly two ‘young girls’ in his hotel room.
Ms White’s report says that she has no evidence of ‘significant knowledge’ of alleged of predatory behaviour on Westwood’s part, but ‘low-level concern’ such as staff claiming to see him ‘outside broadcasts with groups of black women who seemed very young’, should have been reported.
She said: ‘The employee did not believe the young women to be under 18, but said that they seemed very young considering Tim Westwood’s age.
‘They also told me that in around 2003 they went to Tim Westwood’s hotel room before a BBC show and that there was someone they described as ‘a young girl’, or possibly two young girls, in the room.
‘The employee emphasised to me that the girl(s) did not seem to be under 16. In response to questions I asked, they said that they did not know or believe that Tim Westwood was having a sexual relationship with any of the girls or young women to whom they had referred but recognised that there was a chance that he could have been.
‘They also said that they walked out of the door thinking: ‘I wonder what’s going on there’.’
The report said the DJ is alleged to have mimed grabbing the breasts of a student who had been invited onto the 1Xtra drivetime show.
The allegation, dating back to 2010, said Westwood had asked a producer to ‘put a monitor in front of her chest because it’s so hard to concentrate’, with the producer heard responding: ‘Tim, that’s terrible.’
The report read: ‘A student who had been invited on to the 1Xtra drivetime show with a group of university friends to participate in a feature called The College Dropout wrote to the review about her experience saying that Tim Westwood had called her “cuddly” and mimed grabbing her breasts, heavily implying to listeners that she had large breasts.’
It continued: ‘During his conversation with the student he said, amongst other things, “you look a healthy girl”.
‘He later described her as “mad cuddly” and said that it looked like someone “would get lost in there”.
‘The student intervened saying “oh you are talking about my breasts”, to which Westwood responded (apparently to someone else in the studio) “that’s why I keep forgetting what I’m saying. Can you put a monitor in front of her chest because it’s so hard to concentrate”.’
A text message sent to BBC 1Xtra in 2011 which contained an allegation of ‘serious, criminal, sexual misconduct’ on behalf of ‘more than one person who worked for the BBC’, including Westwood, was viewed as a ‘crank malicious communication’, the report said.
Ms White said she considered the BBC investigator’s response to the message, which is heavily redacted in the report, to be ‘wrong’, adding that the overall approach to the allegation was ‘inadequate’.
Ms White’s report read: ‘There is very little evidence as to the reasons why the investigator treated the text as a crank malicious communication. In the absence of any other evidence, it appears to me to be likely that the language in which the allegation was expressed played a part in the investigator’s decision.’
She said ‘no steps were taken to establish whether there was or may have been any truth and the BBC ‘ought to have, at the very least, contacted the person’.
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