Huw Edwards’ crimes were ‘appalling’, BBC boss says – as corporation still in talks about recovering part of salary
The BBC director-general has condemned Huw Edwards’ crimes as “appalling” – and said the corporation is still having conversations about recovering part of his salary paid following his arrest.
Tim Davie addressed the scandal following Edwards‘ sentencing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London on Monday.
Speaking at the Royal Television Society (RTS) annual convention, Mr Davie said he could not see the former presenter ever working at the BBC again “for obvious reasons”.
“This man has just been convicted of appalling crimes and it’s pretty straightforward in my mind,” he said.
Huw Edwards was sentenced at Westminster Magistrates’ Court. Pic: PA
Edwards was given a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to three counts of “making” indecent images of children.
The newsreader paid up to £1,500 to a paedophile who sent him 41 illegal images between December 2020 and August 2021, seven of which were of the most serious type, the court heard.
Asked how badly the scandal has damaged the BBC’s reputation, Mr Davie said there was “no doubt an affair like this impacts our reputation”.
“I don’t know yet in terms of the direct impact on trust,” he added. Trust in the BBC is “essential”, he said, and you can “maintain trust by doing the right things”.
‘We want the money back’
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Huw Edwards leaves court
Presenter Amol Rajan, who hosted the session, asked Mr Davie why Edwards’ pay continued after the BBC was made aware of allegations against him.
Mr Davie said they “wrestled with it” but took the decision “that pay continues until someone is charged”. He added: “I think it was the right decision based on current policy.”
Earlier this year, before the charges against Edwards were announced, it was revealed the former newsreader was among the BBC’s highest-paid stars of the last financial year, despite being off-air since July 2023.
He was first arrested in November 2023, and the BBC has asked for his salary paid after that period – thought to be about £200,000 – to be handed back.
“We want the money back and we’ve asked for it back, and we’re waiting to hear back,” Mr Davie said. Discussions are still ongoing, he added.
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Victims’ families remain the “primary concern”, Mr Davie continued, saying young people who raised concerns over Edwards were “taken seriously” at the time allegations were made.
“We’re just shocked, and there’s a lot of upset because across the BBC,” he said. “We’ve got great teams, good people and they feel deeply, deeply let down.”
Strictly Come Dancing returned at the weekend – with no mention of the controversy surrounding the show. Pic: BBC/Guy Levy
Mr Davie was also asked about the recent controversy surrounding Strictly Come Dancing.
The hit BBC show returned at the weekend as the corporation continues its investigation into allegations of abuse behind the scenes – although the programme did not address this.
Mr David said the broadcaster is now “pretty close to the end” of its investigation into the allegations, but did not give further details.
Rajan asked if it would have been “useful to report it before the new Strictly series started”, to which he replied: “Many things in life would be useful, but we have to do the process.”
Mr Davie said he thought it was “unfair” to say talent in the TV industry might get “indulged and excused”, but that he was “optimistic” that the BBC “is changing”.
He added: “I think the environment’s different, I think this is why it hurts so much when these things happen, but we have to prove we’re only as good as our actions.”
The one where Ross divorces the rock star…?
David Schwimmer says he once served British singer Sir Rod Stewart with divorce papers, while the actor was working in a summer job as a teenager.
The Friends star recalled a brief time as a process server – someone employed to formally serve documents to parties in a legal case – while in his first year of university and how it led to the odd encounter with Sir Rod.
Speaking on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Schwimmer said: “One summer after my freshman year in college, I was just looking for work and my mum said you can be a process server for me.
“My mum was a divorce lawyer, and so I was the guy who would pop out of the bushes and serve you divorce papers.”
The 58-year-old actor, best known for playing ‘three-divorces Ross’ in the long-running sitcom, said he felt like James Bond during the job at age 18.
“Because you get a tip, you’re tipped off as to where they might be,” he said.
“Thank goodness I’ve never run into him since – but I served Rod Stewart.
“I don’t even know if he knows. I don’t think he knows.”
“He knows now,” Colbert joked in reply.
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Schwimmer did not specify which divorce it was for, but the British star split from his first wife Alana Stewart in 1984, when the actor would have been around 18.
Rod Stewart with his wife Alana and their children at Heathrow Airport in 1983. Pic: PA
The veteran rocker married his current wife, Penny Lancaster, in 2007.
Schwimmer, who was born in New York City but grew up partly in Los Angeles, didn’t get his first proper acting role until 1989, according to IMDB, in TV movie A Deadly Silence, and went on to appear in Friends from 1994.
Stars including Beyonce, Eva Longoria and Jamie Lee Curtis have pledged funds to support families affected by the fires in Los Angeles – along with Paris Hilton, who is among those who have lost their homes.
The blazes which erupted in the Pacific Palisades and other areas of the county last week have destroyed thousands of properties and killed at least 24 people.
US reality star and businesswoman Hilton has launched an emergency fund to support families who have been displaced, and kickstarted it with a personal donation of $100,000 dollars (£82,000).
The 43-year-old, who watched her home in Malibu “burn to the ground” as the fires were covered on TV, has also been spending time with animal organisations. She announced on social media that she is fostering a dog whose owners lost their home.
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Paris Hilton posts video of destroyed home
“While I’ve lost my Malibu home, my thoughts are with the countless families who have lost so much more – their homes, cherished keepsakes, the communities they loved, and their sense of stability,” Hilton said in a statement on social media.
Beyonce contributed $2.5m to a newly launched LA Fire Relief Fund, created by her charitable foundation, BeyGOOD.
“The fund is earmarked to aid families in the Altadena/Pasadena area who lost their homes, and to churches and community centres to address the immediate needs of those affected by the wildfires,” the organisation said in a statement.
Pic: AP/Noah Berger
Beyonce’s mother Tina Knowles lost her bungalow in Malibu in the fires.
“It was my favourite place, my sanctuary, my sacred happy place,” she wrote on Instagram. “Now it is gone. God Bless all the brave men and women in our fire department who risked their lives in dangerous conditions.”
Other celebrities who have donated funds include Desperate Housewives star Longoria and her foundation, the Screen Actors Guild, the Recording Academy, which runs the Grammys, and Oscar-winning actress Jamie Lee Curtis and her family – who have all pledged $1m (£819,000) each.
Prince Harry and Meghan are believed to have donated clothing, children’s items and other essential supplies, and were seen making a surprise visit to hand out food to evacuees in Pasadena.
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Prince Harry and his wife Meghan supported residents in Pasadena
Actors Mel Gibson, Miles Teller, Jeff Bridges, Billy Crystal, Jamie Chung and Bryan Greenberg are also among the Hollywood stars confirmed to have lost homes, along with talk show host Ricki Lake, and reality stars Spencer and Heidi Pratt.
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Ricki Lake shared on Instagram the moment flames got to her property in Malibu
The fires, which are burning around Los Angeles, come at the start of Hollywood’s awards season.
Organisers of the Oscars have postponed the nominations announcement twice, with the shortlists currently set to be revealed on 23 January, and the event’s annual luncheon ahead of the ceremony has been cancelled.
The show itself is still set to go ahead on 2 March. The Grammys, scheduled for 2 February, is also reportedly still set to go ahead.
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