Due to his “unacceptable” actions, a former BBC employee was “warned off making a bullying complaint about DJ Tim Westwood.”
During Westwood’s 19 years as a DJ, the ex-colleague claimed they were “warned against taking further action” against the broadcaster and branded Radio 1 as a “sexist boys’ club.”
According to reports, a BBC executive indicated they will “figure out what next steps would be needed.
“However, after the employee met with a senior manager, they were advised to “be particularly careful about saying the term “duty of care”.”
The anonymous former worker claimed they felt like they were being “silenced.”
It follows the BBC’s admission that it was looking into six accusations of improper behavior against DJ Tim Westwood, including one that had been reported to the police.
The employee allegedly wrote: “I have already had a talk with you regarding the continual challenges we’re experiencing with Tim’s staffing/duty of care” in an email to a BBC official that was viewed by The Guardian.
We’re in a tremendous pickle right now because, in essence, nobody wants to work on that project.
We are taking this extremely seriously and want to investigate what transpired with reference to the BBC, a BBC spokesperson told MailOnline.
‘At the beginning of the month, we acknowledged that we had received a number of complaints regarding claims of sexual harassment and bullying.
As we have stated, we are totally dedicated to looking into them, and once our investigation is complete, we will publish our findings.
Despite maintaining that it was not aware of any questionable behavior, the station has since received numerous allegations of bullying and sexual misconduct against the DJ.
Westwood, a former DJ for Radio 1, is 64 years old and has denied all misconduct.
Tim Davie, the director general of the BBC, stated earlier this year that he had “saw no evidence of complaints.”
The investigation into Westwood’s tenure at the broadcaster is currently focused on six complaints that span the years 1994 to 2013.
The allegations center on his alleged sexual behavior and bullying, with some of them alluding to his behavior away from the BBC.
Some of the complaints, including the one that was reported to the police, were old and discovered in BBC files.
The representative continued, “This is a historic case that the BBC has located in its files, and it relates to the matter that was reported to the police.
“We are establishing the relevant facts.
“It wasn’t an allegation of physical assault, and it had nothing to do with behavior on BBC property, behavior toward a BBC employee, or behavior at the BBC.
The BBC does not specify whether the remaining five complaints were received prior to or following the release of Mr. Davie’s statement in April.
Additionally, the broadcaster claimed that Mr. Davie had stated the position as he at the time perceived it.
As previously stated, if anyone have concerns they would like to bring up with the BBC, they should do so, according to a BBC representative.
“People have now done that, and we will keep looking into it.” We also stated that we will investigate earlier events.
We are taking great care in doing that.
That work is still being done and has not yet been completed.
We are treating this seriously as we promised we would.
We’ll share more information after that work is finished.
This comes after seven women who accused Westwood of predatory sexual behavior testified in April, and the Guardian and BBC reported those accounts.
A representative for the DJ at the time responded by stating that he firmly refuted the accusations.
They claimed: “Our client certifies that there has never been any formal or informal complaint made against him regarding charges of inappropriate behavior of the sort stated.
No one has ever made a police complaint, and neither has anybody ever brought up these or any other noticeably similar issues with him or his representatives.
There hasn’t been any kind of investigation into him by the police, his job, or really any other authority, according to the statement.
In the BBC3 documentary Tim Westwood: Abuse of Power, Westwood was caught earlier this year pleading with a fan to remain in her bra while he ogled her on stage.
In the damning documentary, the DJ was charged with molesting black women while performing.
The 64-year-old son of the former bishop of Peterborough was caught on camera catcalling a woman as she hid herself from view and yelled, “Yo baby you don’t have to put your top back on,” from the decks.
Additionally, he was seen grabbing a woman while gazing down her top and enquiring, “I like your rack; is it real?”
In the documentary, he was also shown holding onto a woman’s arm after whispering something sexual in her ear while they were backstage at a festival.
Another video shows rapper Cardi B being interviewed by Westwood for Capital FM in 2017.
Do you have sex with a lot of like, black girls? the American artist queries.
In response to criticism that he was inappropriate with the star during an interview, Westwood said, “Not as much as I’d like to,” after pausing.