In the wake of the Huw Edwards sentencing, the BBC Director General has said he wants his legacy to be moving “beyond” these crises, while he confirmed that the former lead anchor will never work for the corporation again.
Speaking at RTS London, Davie said “we have made enormous progress” in terms of moving on from bad behavior in the industry, but “there is still something about the business where you have these people who are creatively brilliant that comes with certain behaviors.”
There are “great teams across the BBC and they feel deeply deeply let down,” he added, while pointing out that “it’s not about us, it’s about [Edwards’] victims’ families.”
Davie said industry execs such as himself and his on-stage interviewer, Amol Rajan, “cast a big shadow” and “have a responsibility to think about what shadow we cast” as they seek to ensure there is no repeat of the Edwards saga.
“My legacy, one of the things I really want to do, is to be a point where we have finally got beyond this now,” he added. “You use crisis to move yourself on.”
Davie said terms of reference are currently being agreed for the BBC Board-led review into workplace culture at the corporation, which insiders told Deadline this morning is a matter of considerable interest internally.
Davie gave short shrift to a question from Rajan on whether Edwards will work for the BBC again.
“I can’t see that happening for obvious reasons,” he said. “This man has just been convicted of appalling crimes and it’s pretty straight forward that he won’t work for the BBC again. It’s not a difficult question.”
Edwards avoided jail time yesterday and was instead handed a suspended prison sentence. He pled guilty to making indecent images of children in July. BBC Chair Samir Shah has said he “betrayed the trust of the nation,” while the judge at his ruling described his reputation as being in “tatters.”
Davie said last week that the BBC could have been “more muscular” over its decision to pay Edwards £200,000 ($260,000) between the time he was arrested in November 2023 and left in April of this year.
Davie was speaking at RTS London on the same day as the likes of Ted Sarandos, David Beckham and Steven Knight.
