DJ Tim Westwood accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women

The renowned DJ Tim Westwood has been accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women who claim he misused his position in the music industry to take advantage of them.

Three women have accused the DJ of opportunistic and predatory sexual behaviour, while four others allege they were groped by him at events.

The women, who were in their late teens or early 20s when they say the incidents happened, described their experiences to the Guardian and BBC News as part of a joint investigation into the former BBC Radio 1 DJ.

The earliest alleged incident took place in 1992; the most recent in 2017.

One of the women said: “Someone taking advantage of my naivety and lack of confidence isn’t something that I should have to carry with shame.”

Westwood has strenuously denied all the allegations. A spokesperson said they were completely false and denied in their entirety.

In response to the allegations on Tuesday the BBC said it was “shocked”. A spokesperson said: “The BBC is against all forms of inappropriate behaviour and we are shocked to hear of these allegations. The BBC has strict codes of conduct for all those engaged by the BBC, including on-air presenters.”

The women, who are all black, decided to tell their stories in the aftermath of anonymous allegations of inappropriate behaviour about Westwood circulating on social media in June 2020.

In a statement at the time, Westwood denied any wrongdoing, saying the allegations online were fabricated, false and without foundation.

The Guardian and BBC, which has released a documentary on BBC Three about the story, have since spoken to seven women who make a range of separate allegations about the DJ’s conduct.

Some of the women say they felt unable to talk about their experiences before. They feared their accounts would not be taken seriously because they were so young