British DJ Tim Westwood “Strongly Rejecting” Sexual Misconduct Allegations
Veteran British Disc Jockey Tim Westwood, known in Dancehall circles for his mixtapes and extensive interviews with Jamaican artists, says he is “strongly rejecting” all allegations of wrongdoing after he was accused of sexual misconduct and predatory behavior by several women in his home country.
This morning, the BBC reported that there were multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against Westwood by seven black women, who say he “abused his position in the music industry to exploit them”.
“The 64-year-old is accused of predatory and unwanted sexual behaviour and touching, in incidents between 1992 and 2017,” the news outlet reported.
“The BBC and the Guardian have heard detailed accounts from seven women in a joint investigation into the former BBC Radio 1 DJ,” the report said, noting that the disc jockey, “strenuously denies the allegations”.
Westwood, who is described as an early champion of hip-hop in the UK who hosted the first nationally-broadcast rap show on UK radio from 1994, had said in an interview with the Red Bull Academy, that his music sojourn began with Reggae, where he started off as a club DJ, carrying boxes for a sound system in Northwest London. He later began warming up for veteran British Reggae selector David Rodigan, where he played Reggae music and jazz-funk.
His brand grew to such a scale and scope that he began playing in clubs to more than 350,000 people a year.
Westwood has over the years, interviewed numerous Reggae and Dancehall artists including Sean Paul, Kranium, Jahmiel, Spice, Agent Sasco, Masicka, Intence and I Waata. His two most recent interviews were with Dirt Bounce deejay Laa Lee, and Mr. Whap Whap himself, Skillibeng, on his show on Capital Xtra.
Westwood, according to the BBC, also has the biggest selling urban compilation in UK history, having sold more than 1.7 million albums to date.
His last Dancehall compilation was done in September 2019. Titled the Dancehall Lava mixtape, it featured tracks by Squash, Chronic Law, Jahvillani, Vybz Kartel, Popcaan, Ding Dong, Shenseea, Teejay, Masicka, Tommy Lee Sparta, Daddy 1, Intence, I Waata and Shawn Storm.
In the report this morning, the BBC said that his seven accusers had decided to come forward with their stories after allegations of inappropriate behavior from the disc jockey surfaced on social media in June 2020.
The report said that two of the women who were aspiring to work in the music industry, said they had agreed to come to London to meet him to discuss music.
“They accuse the DJ of driving them to a flat and initiating unwanted and unexpected sex. One was 19 at the time, while Westwood was 53,” the BBC reported.
Another woman told the BBC that she had met the now 64-year-old when she was just 17 and he was in his mid-30s, and was subjected to unwanted oral sex after meeting with him.
An additional four young women have also accused Westwood of either touching their bottoms or breasts as they posed for photographs with him at different events where he was performing.
The BBC said that allegations about Westwood’s conduct toward young black women, have circulated on social media for some time. However, the elder had issued a statement to the Mail Online repudiating the allegations and describing them as “fabricated”, false, and without foundation.
The alleged victims gave their testimonies for the creation of a new 30-minute documentary, which the BBC has titled Tim Westwood: Abuse of Power.
In his biography, the BBC describes Westwood as the most recognized urban DJ of the decade and the “most influential figure in Hip Hop in Europe and as a pioneer of the UK scene”.
In the UK, Westwood was one of the most recognisable names in Hip-hop and Rap after he began hosting on BBC Radio 1 back in 1994, where among other things, he “hosted early interviews with Jay-Z and became a stalwart of the station until his departure in 2014” the BBC said.