BBC reveals it DID receive sexual misconduct complaints about DJ Tim Westwood – despite saying they had ‘no evidence’
THE BBC did receive sexual misconduct complaints against its DJ Tim Westwood despite saying it had no evidence of any, it has revealed.
And one historic case from the six reports against the former Radio 1 DJ, 64, was referred to the police, the corporation added.
But director general Tim Davie insisted in April that "no evidence" of complaints had been found.
It came after Westwood was accused of predatory behaviour in reports by the and .
Westwood denies the allegations.
A BBC spokesman said of the complaint that was referred to the police: "This is a historic case that the BBC has found in its files. We are establishing the facts around it.
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"It did not relate to conduct at the BBC, BBC premises, or conduct towards a BBC staff member, nor was it an accusation of physical assault.";
The BBC refused to say if the other five complaints were received before or after Mr Davie's statement.
It added Westwood had been spoken to following one of the other complaints and said the corporation was unaware of what further action was taken about them at the time.
Accusers have previously claimed the star abused his position in the music industry to exploit women by "flashing and groping" them.
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He is accused of unwanted sexual behaviour and touching on dates between 1992 and 2017.
A spokesman said at the time: "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."
However, the BBC and the Guardian have allegedly heard detailed accounts from seven women, all of whom are black, as part of a joint investigation. The media organisations say none of the women know each other.
Two of them say they agreed to come to London to meet him to discuss music.
They allege he instead drove them to a flat to initiate unwanted sex.
One was 19 at the time, while former Pimp My Ride UK host Westwood was 53.
A BBC spokesperson told The Sun Online: “As we have said, if people have things that they want to raise with the BBC, then they should do so.
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"People have now done so and we will continue to investigate. We also said that we would dig into what happened in the past. We are doing that with great care.
"All of that work hasn’t concluded and is ongoing. We said we would take this seriously, and we are. When that work has concluded, we will say more.”