British DJ Linked to Jay-Z and Diddy Faces Disturbing Sex Assault Charges

Tim Westwood, once the face of UK hip-hop radio, has been formally charged with multiple historic sexual offences, a development that has rocked Britain's music and broadcasting worlds.

The Crown Prosecution Service and the Metropolitan Police announced on Thursday, 09 October 2025, that the 68-year-old former BBC and Capital Xtra DJ faces a series of non-recent allegations dating from the 1980s through to 2016.

The charges follow a police probe launched after a joint BBC/Guardian investigation in 2022 and an independent BBC review of the corporation's handling of complaints. Westwood has repeatedly denied wrongdoing through representatives, while the BBC has apologised for missed opportunities to spot patterns of behaviour.

Charges and the Crown Prosecution Decision

The CPS confirmed that Westwood has been charged with nine counts of indecent assault, two counts of sexual assault and four counts of rape; the alleged offences relate to seven different women and are said to have occurred between 1983 and 2016.

The Metropolitan Police set out specific allegations in its public statement, including incidents in Fulham, Vauxhall, central London, Stroud and Finchley.

Lionel Idan, the CPS's Chief Crown Prosecutor for London South, said prosecutors had concluded there was sufficient evidence to bring the case and stressed the need for responsible reporting while proceedings are active.

'It is extremely important that there be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings'. Westwood is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 10 November 2025 as the pre-trial process begins.

BBC Review and Institutional Failings

The criminal charges come after the BBC published an independent review, led by Gemma White KC, into what the corporation knew about complaints made against Westwood during his time at Radio 1 and 1Xtra.

The external review, which cost the BBC around £3.3m ($4.4m), concluded the corporation 'fell short' and apologised to those affected, saying it had missed opportunities that might have prompted action. The review drew on more than 120 testimonies and thousands of documents and was explicitly delayed at the request of police to avoid prejudicing investigative work.

While the inquiry did not find evidence of 'widespread or significant BBC knowledge' of predatory sexual behaviour, it flagged a pattern of attitudes and informal complaints that were treated in isolation, a failure that the BBC board acknowledged publicly.

Those institutional findings help explain why the story escalated from journalism and survivor testimony into a formal criminal investigation and prosecution.

Industry Standing, Archive Interviews and Denials

For decades Westwood was a central gatekeeper to Britain's hip-hop scene: his archive channel hosts interviews and freestyles with global stars, including filmed conversations with Jay-Z and Sean 'Diddy' Combs; primary, contemporaneous material that demonstrates his reach in the industry.

Examples include the Jay-Z Glastonbury interview uploaded to TimWestwoodTV and archival footage of Puff Daddy/Sean Combs on the same channel. Those videos show the professional proximity that underpinned Westwood's influence, but they do not bear on the criminal allegations themselves.

Westwood has consistently denied the allegations. A representative told ITV in April 2022 that he 'strongly rejects all allegations of inappropriate behaviour' and described the claims as 'fabricated, false and without foundation'. He declined to participate directly in the BBC review, instead providing a solicitors' statement denying bullying or harassment and saying some people had 'behaved poorly towards him'.

Those denials sit alongside powerful, personal testimony published in the original Guardian/BBC investigation and the BBC Three documentary 'Tim Westwood: Abuse of Power', in which anonymous women described what they say were exploitative encounters and betrayals of trust.

One witness told investigators: 'It is a privilege to be able to do what you love as a job and it's a privilege to be given a platform to do it on. So it's a massive violation when you abuse that.'