American DJ, Tim Westwood, has stepped down from his show at CapitalXtra following a sexual misconduct allegations.
The veteran radio DJ has been accused of “opportunistic and predatory” sexual behavior by several women, who have made claims to The Guardian and BBC.
“Following the claims that have recently come to light, Tim Westwood has stepped down from his show until further notice,” a statement from CapitalXtra read.
Tim Westwood, who is 64 years, presented a Saturday night slot on hip-hop station Capital Xtra for nine years. Westwood hosted the influential rap show on Radio 1 and a drivetime show on sister station 1Xtra at BBC from 1994 to 2013, before moving to Capital Xtra in 2013 when it changed its name from Choice FM. He also fronted the UK version of the hit MTV show, ‘Pimp my Ride’ in 2005.
Tim is known for giving a platform to new artists, as well as getting some of the biggest rappers in the world onto his programs, from Eminem to Cardi B.
The self-styled ‘Big Dawg’ also performed at nightclubs around the UK and internationally, and hosted freestyle sessions and interviews on his popular YouTube channel alongside his radio show.
Currently, two of his forthcoming DJ sets in Birmingham and Bognor Regis have also been canceled in light of the allegations.
Allegations Against Tim Westwood
On Tuesday, April 26, 2022, a joint investigation by the BBC and The Guardian featured the accounts of seven women relating to alleged incidents between 1992 and 2017.
It is worth noting that the women who spoke to the BBC are all black, and said they met Westwood through his work. They told their stories in a BBC Three documentary, ‘Tim Westwood: Abuse of Power’.
The women accused Westwood of predatory sexual behavior and touching, claiming he abused his position in the music industry to exploit them. Two said he had initiated unwanted and unexpected sex, one claimed she was subjected to unwanted oral sex, and four accused the DJ of touching their bottoms or breasts.
A spokesman for Tim Westwood said he strenuously denied the serious allegations made against him. He said Tim did not behave in the manner described and any suggestion that he acts, or has acted, in the way described is false.
Claims Are Appalling, BBC Boss Says
Earlier, BBC Director-General, Tim Davie, described the claims against Tim Westwood as “appalling”, and called for anyone else with evidence to come forward.
Mr. Davie noted that he had found no evidence of complaints made to the corporation about the DJ while he was at BBC.
“I’ve asked and we’ve looked at our records and we’ve seen no evidence. If something like this were raised or anything comes up, we investigate it fully. I would hope we were doing that in that time [when Westwood worked for the BBC] as well. I would simply say if people have evidence where things weren’t followed up, or they have concerns in this area, bring it to us. We want to investigate it”.
Asked whether that applied to historic problems, Mr. Davie replied: “Totally. We will follow up on anything and we’ll dig and dig and dig, and I want to know if people have got any more testimonies. It’s shocking to see those testimonies. I make the point more generally – if people have got evidence of wrongdoing, absolutely, we need to bring it forward”.
The Director-General stressed that there’s nothing worse in life than abuse of power, adding that “you need to be absolutely clear that it’s completely unacceptable”.
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