It found that the company received several reports about Westwood in 2012, including two allegations of misconduct and sexual harassment and an allegation that the radio presenter “created a toxic atmosphere among those he worked with at the BBC”. It comes after BBC director-general Tim Davie initially said there was “no evidence of complaints” against Westwood, who worked at the company from 1994 to 2013. Davie was director of sound and music from 2008 to 2012, including responsibility for its radio stations, before a brief first stint as deputy general manager in 2012-13. The internal report follows an investigation by the Guardian and BBC News which published allegations of sexual misconduct and predatory behavior made by a number of women against Westwood, 64. He denied all the allegations, with a spokesman saying they were “completely false” and there had never been any complaints against him “officially or unofficially”. The BBC said it had now appointed an independent barrister, Gemma White QC, to lead a wider review to “fully review” what was known about concerns about Westwood’s conduct during his 19-year career at the company . The BBC’s senior independent board director, Sir Nicholas Serota, said: “In the light of the BBC’s internal review, I believe there may have been occasions in the past where the BBC should have investigated further issues raised. “It now appears that there are allegations against Tim Westwood dating back to before, during and after his employment at the BBC and elsewhere. The BBC is willing to work with any other employers to fully establish what happened.” The company said it was in contact with the Metropolitan Police and would be given the appropriate information. It comes as the Met investigates four reports of alleged sexual acts against Westwood, two of which date back to the 1980s and the other two in 2010 and 2016. Westwood quit his Capital Xtra show in April after seven women accused him of sexual harassment and predatory behavior as part of a joint Guardian/BBC News investigation. Ten more women alleged sexual assault, sexual abuse and misconduct in a further joint investigation in July. The report included an allegation from a woman who said Westwood first had sex with her when she was 14 and he was in his 30s in the early 1990s. The BBC admitted in July that it had received six complaints of alleged bullying and sexual harassment relating to when the DJ was an employee, some of them after the first Guardian/BBC News stories were published. In its review published on Thursday, the BBC said it received two reports of sexual harassment against Westwood in 2012, which were included in logs set up to record complaints in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal. One was an allegation made in October 2012 that Westwood had made inappropriate sexual comments to a 15-year-old girl at a non-BBC event in 2007, which was passed to the police. The report said: “The individual did not want to give their witness details but confirmed they were willing to speak to the police. This allegation was passed to the police in October 2012, who in May 2013 said they would take no further action in relation to it.’ The other report concerned a journalistic inquiry by a newspaper seeking comment from the BBC in November 2012 about a sexual abuse rumor against Westwood. The review also found that two sets of internal complaints were made about Westwood’s behaviour, with a set of complaints in 2011 and 2012 about the DJ’s alleged use of sexual and inappropriate comments while on air. In a further report, the review added: “There was also an allegation in 2012 that Tim Westwood had created a toxic atmosphere among those he worked with at the BBC. A member of the BBC staff recalls speaking to Tim Westwood about this at this time and that Tim Westwood denied all the allegations made.’ The review found further allegations were made about Westwood following the Guardian/BBC News investigation in April. He said these included a report from a BBC staff member who alleged Westwood had sexually assaulted a woman at a BBC-affiliated event in the mid-2000s. The person recalled raising the matter at the time to someone on the BBC, but couldn’t remember who or the exact year. The BBC said it also received reports from two women alleging sexual assault by Westwood in the 1980s before he was hired by the BBC. A third woman described consensual sex with Westwood in the mid-2000s at a non-BBC event, which she now says was inappropriate. The BBC also noted that there had been complaints from the public in the past about the content of some of Westwood’s programmes, but said these were not part of the internal review. White, backed by law firm Linklaters, will aim to complete her investigation in six months. The BBC has said it is willing to work with Westwood’s other employers, including MTV and Capital Xtra owner Global, to fully establish what happened. Westwood denied all allegations in the original investigation, with a spokesman saying there had never been any complaints against him “formally or informally”. He did not respond to the allegations when contacted during the second investigation. He was reached for comment on Thursday.
