Huw Edwards scandal: BBC ‘in touch’ with family of person at centre of explicit photos allegations – corporation boss Tim Davie
BBC boss Tim Davie says the corporation has been in touch with the family of a person at the centre of allegations surrounding Huw Edwards.
Speaking at a pre-arranged Lords Communications Committee session on Tuesday, the director-general said: “We have been in touch with the complainant, we want to be engaged and appropriately listening and understanding their concern”.
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‘We have been in touch with the complainant,’ says BBC director-general
The BBC has faced accusations it did not respond quickly enough to complaints from the family of the young person, after it took seven weeks for allegations to be put to Huw Edwards.
Mr Davie was also asked about holding the BBC’s high-paid talent to account, responding: “I think the history of this industry is such that we should all be concerned and appropriately diligent around the abuse of people in powerful positions”.
He added: “You need to ensure that you’re very, very clear on what your expectations are culturally, as well as the policy.”
He went on to say he was “proud” of the corporation’s code of conduct and values, calling the whistleblowing process by which staff can confidentially report concerns to an external support at work line “a safe place”.
He also confirmed to peers that high-profile presenters at the corporation have a clause in their contract about not bringing the BBC into disrepute.
Edwards, who is the BBC’s highest-earning newsreader, was accused of paying a teenager thousands of pounds for sexually explicit photos.
‘Very wrong directions’
Acting chairwoman of the BBC Dame Elan Closs Stephens told peers despite “huge pressure” to name the presenter at the heart of the scandal, the corporation “had a duty to act with some calm and rationality in the face of lack of rationality and lack of calm”.
She said that duty of care was both to Edwards, the young person and the young person’s family involved “in this maelstrom”.
She went on: “I was on the one hand seeking to establish the right of the board to oversee what was happening, but at the same time, I was trying my best to make for a calm and rational discussion of the issue before we all got carried away in what could have been very wrong directions.”
The family of the young person had originally complained to the BBC in May, but allegations were not put to the presenter, or flagged to senior executives – including Mr Davie – until seven weeks later.
Appeal for information
Mr Davie, along with Dame Elan and policy director Clare Sumner, faced questions about the “adequacy” of the corporation’s governance arrangements and were asked to give updates on the progress of two reports, following the controversy.
The BBC is carrying out “fact-finding investigations” into Edwards, as well as a review to “assess how some complaints are red flagged up the organisation”.
Elaborating on the BBC’s general complaints process, he said a serious allegation would be passed on to its corporate investigations team where it would be assessed by “very experienced people”, and that from there “it could lead to a fact-finding and disciplinary or it might go to the authorities, or it might be dropped”.
Read more:
Who is Huw Edwards?
Was The Sun right to publish allegations?
What friends and colleagues have said about Huw Edwards
BBC chiefs are finally talking – but still avoiding accountability
Essential oils perhaps? A cooling flannel to the forehead?
If Dame Elan Closs Stephens, acting chairwoman of the BBC, has any suggestions on how we journalists chill out, calm down, get a grip – which she clearly thinks we need to do – then please do pass them on.
In truth, I think I may need some tips on stress relief. The rare occasions when bosses at the corporation speak publicly about the Huw Edwards affair are starting to become an exercise in raising one’s blood pressure.
Director-general Tim Davie and Dame Elan fielding questions in parliament, a classic example of how
well-paid guardians of BBC yet again fail to see what the fuss is all about.
For clarity, accountability is an important pillar of the BBC. And yet top bosses seem to have an almost deluded approach to why we expect them to share what goes on behind the scenes.
Yes, finally, we have a few more answers about what’s now happening. Because of their duty of care to those involved, their fact-finding investigation could take weeks or months.
We now know that contractually high-profile presenters agree not to bring the corporation into disrepute.
That, finally, they’ve spoken with the original complainant and want to be “engaged and listening”. They’ve worked out how to make a phone call then?
Forgive the sarcasm, but when Dame Elan criticised the 40 journalists she spoke to on zoom for being so preoccupied by the scandal we failed to report on how well she and her team were handling events behind the scene, it somewhat took the biscuit.
Actually, I wasn’t rubbing my hands together with glee at reporting on the downfall of a well-respected news figure. More over I was contemplating bashing my head against a brick wall out of frustration over how impossible it is to get a straight answer out of the BBC.
For the record, Dame Elan, if you had “wished governance had been more to the fore but can’t dictate how it was reported…” all you had to do was come out and talk to us.
Don’t try to now sell the few brief words you gave to press at the start of a pre-arranged briefing on your annual report as you arranging a proper briefing on the matter, because it certainly wasn’t that.
You are tasked with protecting something precious. Journalists are tasked with making sure you’re doing your job. Accountability and openness is the least required of you.
When are reports due?
Addressing fact-finding probe into Edwards, Mr Davie highlighted the “difficult concerns” involved and appealed for anyone with information to get in touch, saying: “We’re keen to receive any information because we just want to understand anything that’s out there”.
Mr Davie said the report “could take weeks or it could take a couple of months, or even longer”.
With regard to the second review of the BBC’s protocols and procedures, Mr Davie said: “We are doing that work immediately,” adding that it would be delivered in “the autumn, maybe late autumn”.
It will be led by Simon Cuerden, a forensic partner at Deloitte and Sir Nick Serota, a senior independent director at the BBC.
Original allegations
Allegations that Edwards paid a teenager more than £35,000 for sexually explicit photos were first published in The Sun on Friday 7 July. The paper did not name him at the time.
Five days later, the Metropolitan Police said they did not believe any criminal activity had taken place and would be taking no further action.
Following intense speculation over the identity of the BBC presenter, Edwards’ wife, Vicky Flind, confirmed him as the man at the centre of the allegations.
In a statement, she said he was “suffering from serious mental health issues” and was “receiving in-patient hospital care”.
The Sun – who say they never alleged criminality – say they have no plans to publish further allegations against Edwards.
The young person at the centre of the controversy has said – via their lawyer – that their mother’s claims are “rubbish,” and that “nothing inappropriate or unlawful” has taken place.
Edwards, who has since been suspended, is also facing separate allegations from several other people in their early 20s.
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At the weekend, Sir Tony Blair told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday that the BBC should “stand up for itself more” when asked about its response to the situation.
As the face of BBC News At 10, the 61-year-old has previously led election night coverage, and broke the news of Queen Elizabeth II’s death. He was last on air on Wednesday 5 July, covering the King’s visit to Scotland.
Some have questioned The Sun’s decision to publish the original story, and the balance between publishing in the public interest versus the right to privacy has been thrust firmly into the spotlight.
A woman who saw a man falling from an upper tier at Wembley Stadium says a similar incident at an Oasis concert over the weekend in which a fan died makes her wonder whether lessons have been learned.
Stephanie Good, 39, said a man fell during a Euro 2020 match between England and Croatia at Wembley in June 2021.
He landed “right next to where we were” on the “stairwell between rows of seats”, she said.
Named as Jon, he reportedly survived but suffered two broken ankles, a fractured femur and fractured pelvis just before kick-off.
Ms Good said she tried to give feedback but was unable to and felt the “emergency response was really lacking”.
Oasis, meanwhile, said they were “shocked and saddened to hear of the tragic death of a fan” at their Wembley concert on Saturday.
The man reportedly fell from the stadium’s upper tier.
In his 40s, he was found with “injuries consistent with a fall” and pronounced dead at the scene, the Met Police said.
Ms Good, an NHS manager from east London, said what happened at the Oasis gig was “so similar” to what she witnessed that it made her wonder “were lessons learned”?
Liam and Noel Gallagher on stage for the first Wembley night of the Oasis reunion tour. Pic: Lewis Evans
During that incident, among stadium staff “nobody seemed to know what to do”, she told the Press Association.
She thinks the man may have been trying to attach a flag to the front of a stand and “somehow managed to fall straight over”.
She said: “They (staff) didn’t seem well-trained in terms of how to respond to a really big emergency.
“Their stewards were kind of paralysed a little bit by fear, or they just weren’t well trained and didn’t know how to call for paramedics.
“It was us who were sort of shouting at them that they needed to get some paramedics.
“The first person on the scene wasn’t a stadium paramedic or St John Ambulance. It was an off-duty firefighter who had seen the guy fall and ran down to just try and offer some help.”
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Regarding the follow-up, Ms Good said staff moved spectators to other seats but did not ask for witness statements.
She added: “They didn’t seek any input from people who’d seen the incident or the aftermath of it. They didn’t seem interested in speaking to anybody about it.
“I was a bit concerned, because I felt that the emergency response was really lacking.”
She then tried to get in touch to give feedback, but was unable to do so and did not receive a response to a message on social media, she said.
A Wembley spokesperson said: “Wembley Stadium operates to a very high health and safety standard, fully meeting legal requirements for the safety of spectators and staff, and is certified to and compliant with the ISO 45001 standard.
“We work very closely and collaboratively with all relevant event delivery stakeholders – including event owners, local authorities, the Sports Grounds Safety Authority and the police – to deliver events to high standards of safety, security and service for everyone attending or working in the venue.”
Sean “Diddy” Combs has been denied bail ahead of his sentencing on prostitution-related charges.
Judge Arun Subramanian said the hip-hop mogul had failed to show sufficient evidence he is not a flight risk and also cited admissions of previous violence made during his trial.
Combs, 55, has been in prison since his arrest in September last year.
During a two-month trial, jurors heard allegations that he had coerced former girlfriends, including singer and model Cassie Ventura, into having drug-fuelled sex marathons with male sex workers, while he watched and filmed them.
Diddy fell to his knees after the verdict was delivered last month. Pic: Reuters/ Jane Rosenberg
In July, he was found guilty of two counts of transportation for prostitution – but cleared of more serious charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex-trafficking, which carried potential life sentences.
The rapper’s legal team hailed this a “victory” and immediately applied for bail ahead of sentencing, citing his acquittal on the top charges.
After this was denied, they submitted another application last week. Judge Subramanian has now rejected the request again.
In denying the motion for bail, the judge found Combs had failed to show sufficient evidence to counter arguments he is a flight risk, writing in a court filing: “Increasing the amount of the bond or devising additional conditions doesn’t change the calculus given the circumstances and heavy burden of proof that Combs bears.”
Read more:
How the trial unfolded
The rise and fall of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
Judge Arun Subramanian heard Diddy’s trial and will also sentence the rapper
He also found that an argument by the music star’s legal team that the squalor and danger of the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), where he is being held, did not warrant release.
“The public outcry concerning these conditions has come from all corners,” the judge wrote. “But as Combs acknowledges, MDC staff has been able to keep him safe and attend to his needs, even during an incident of threatened violence from an inmate.”
As well as Combs’s bail application, his legal team has also filed a motion calling for him to be acquitted or given a new trial on the prostitution-related charges only.
The judge has not yet responded to this application.
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How the Diddy trial unfolded
How long could Diddy be jailed for?
Combs is due to be sentenced on 3 October and could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.
Discussions on sentencing guidelines which followed the jury’s verdict suggest it is unlikely he will be jailed for this long, with an estimate of around two to five years, taking into account time already served.
However, it is ultimately up to Judge Arun Subramanian to decide the rapper’s punishment.
On Friday, Donald Trump was asked during an interview about a potential pardon for Combs following speculation about the issue.
The president said it was unlikely, adding that the rapper was “very hostile” during his presidential campaign.
Combs, who co-founded Bad Boy Records and launched the career of the late Notorious BIG, was for decades a huge figure in pop culture – a Grammy-winning hip-hop artist and business entrepreneur, who presided over an empire ranging from fashion to reality TV.
As well as the criminal conviction, he is also facing several civil lawsuits.
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