Tim Westwood: Abuse of Power – Everything We Know

Capital Xtra Radio DJ Tim Westwood is being accused by multiple women of sexual misconduct and abuse of power. According to a BBC documentary titled Tim Westwood: Abuse Of Power, seven women spoke up with their stories of how they were sexually manipulated and groped in their private parts by Tim Westwood.

Tim Westwood – Who is DJ Tim Westwood?

The BBC synopsis reads: “For 40 years, Tim Westwood dominated the UK Black music scene. The white DJ was an early adopter of hip hop in the 1980s and presented BBC Radio 1’s Rap Show for almost 20 years, before moving to Capital Xtra in 2013. The self-styled ‘Big Dawg’ had everyone from Jay-Z to Nicki Minaj on his shows, and his stint presenting MTV’s Pimp My Ride made him a household name.”

Tim Westwood was a popular Radio1 DJ from 1994 to 2013. The allegations made against him for the abuse of his power date from early 1992 and late 2017. The seven women who told their stories of how they met Westwood are all black women.

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Here’s what we know about the women and their side of the story.

Tim Westwood – The Women He Lured Out Of London

Three out of the seven women confirmed that the DJ lured them out of their houses with the impression to discuss music, only to take them to a faraway place and take advantage of them, two out of these three were teenagers as at the time they experienced it, 17 and 19, the other was 20.

According to BBC, these women’s names have been changed to protect their identities and they do not know each other. Some work in the music industry and fear repercussions – with the DJ continuing to have a prominent role in an industry long criticized for its treatment of darker-skinned black women.

One of the women, the one who was 17 years old at that time, recounted meeting Westwood while she was recording music in the studio, and Westwood in his mid-30s invited her for a meetup, that was in the early 1990s. She obliged thinking they were going to discuss music, only for Westwood to take her outside London to an unknown flat and began undressing her and taking advantage of her. She recalled trying to leave immediately after the incident but that wasn’t the end because she keeps running into Westwood at work and he kept having sex with her until she worked up the courage to put an end to it.

The second person’s encounter was in the early 2000s, she was 19 at the time, and she recalled sending a mixtape of her unreleased work that included her contact details inside the CD case to Westwood the night she went to the club night with her friend and stepmom. Westwood, 53 at the time, called her the next day to meet with him in London, only for Westwood to arrive in a flashy car, and on their way to where she thought they were to meet and discuss music probably over coffee, Westwood drew her attention to his exposed genital, she didn’t lead him on, he then took her outside of London, again, to an unknown apartment and took advantage of her. She added that Westwood seemed very pissed when she asked for a lift to the station. She added that her experience with Westwood killed her music dreams.

Tim Westwood – The Women He Groped Their Private Parts

Four women in their late teens or early twenties met Westwood at club nights when he DJ’d. The women, who have never spoken, say that as they posed for a photo with the DJ he put his hand inside their top, down their shorts, or up their skirt, leaving them shocked and shaken.”

The most recent complaint told the BBC she met Westwood at a New Year’s Day event in 2017. She says he described her as the “pengest girl in the rave” during his DJ set and then later, while she and her friend recorded a Snapchat video with him, she says he put his hand up inside the back of her skirt. She says she was “shocked” and felt “objectified”.

She says the DJ managed to find her Snapchat contact and called her the next day to ask her to “hang out”. She didn’t meet up with him.

Tim Westwood – What Has Tim Westwood Said About The Allegations?

The Guardian reports that lawyers acting for Tim Westwood have said that he was “a well-respected and highly successful DJ,” and that “he strenuously denied in their entirety the serious allegations being made against him”. “Any suggestion that he acts, or has acted, in the way described would be false and seriously defamatory,” a statement said.

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Since the news broke, countless more have spoken out on Twitter. One wrote: “Black women have been speaking very publicly about Tim Westwood’s behavior for YEARS. He was in his 50s sniffing around uni dorms for victims… I’m glad it’s finally been taken note of but can we just listen to women instead of waiting for 20 years worth of allegations?”

Another added: “The fact that my entire [timeline] is pretty much saying ‘about time’ regarding Tim Westwood is extremely telling of the lack of action when it comes to Black female victims of alleged sexual assault.”

The documentary is already available to watch on BBC iPlayer. It will air on BBC Three at 9 pm on 26 April 2022.

Be sure to catch up on everything happening with Tim Westwood right now. Come back here often for all the Tim Westwood’s spoilers, news, and updates.

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