The BBC’s top leader and head of its news division resigned over criticism of how the broadcaster edited US President Donald Trump’s speech before some of his supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
The scandal leading to Monday’s resignations is hardly the first controversy to hit Britain’s publicly funded broadcaster — or to topple one of its leaders.
The editorially independent British Broadcasting Corporation was founded in 1922 to be impartial, act in the public interest and be open, transparent and accountable. While it is widely respected for its global news operation and the entertainment and sports programmes it produces, it is frequently the source of criticism for its coverage and has also been ensnared in scandals that happened off the air.
Here’s a look at some controversies or scandals that have forced out some of the BBC’s leaders:
Jimmy Savile scandal
November 2012: George Entwistle resigned as director-general over the Newsnight programme’s decision not to run a report that entertainer Jimmy Savile, one of its most popular presenters who had died the previous year, was a serial sexual abuser of young women. The broadcaster had also wrongly linked a prominent politician to child sex abuse. Entwistle held the job less than two months because he failed to explain lapses that damaged public confidence in the BBC.
Boris Johnson’s banker friend
April 2023: BBC Chairman Richard Sharp quit after a report found he failed to disclose a potential conflict of interest over his role in arranging a loan more than two years earlier for Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Sharp, a former banker, was appointed to the BBC post on the government’s recommendation weeks after helping arrange the line of credit.
BBC Director-General Tim Davie’s watch
2021: Davie apologised after a report found that Martin Bashir had used fake bank records to deceive Princess Diana’s brother to land his explosive interview with her in 1995. Davie, who was not at the BBC at the time, offered a full and unconditional apology, along with written apologies to then-Prince Charles and his sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.
July 2023: Huw Edwards, the highest paid news anchor, was suspended with full pay over allegations he paid a teen for sexually explicit photos. He later pleaded guilty and was given a suspended prison sentence for having unrelated images of child sexual abuse on his phone.
June 2025: BBC is condemned for livestreaming a performance by rap punk duo Bob Vylan, who led crowds at this year’s Glastonbury Festival in chanting “death” to the Israeli military. The BBC’s complaints unit later found the broadcast broke editorial guidelines in relation to harm and offence, though it was cleared of breaching impartiality rules or being likely to incite or encourage crime. Davie apologised, saying he deeply regretted “such offensive and deplorable behaviour” was aired.
October 2025: Britain’s media regulator sanctioned the BBC for a “materially misleading” documentary on the lives of children in Gaza because it failed to disclose that the father of the teen narrator held a position in the Hamas administration.
November 2025: BBC Director-General Tim Davie and news chief Deborah Turness resigned after the BBC’s Panorama documentary programme misleadingly spliced together parts of Trump’s speech that were delivered over nearly an hour. It appeared to be one quote in which Trump urged supporters to march with him and “fight like hell”, omitting a section where the president said he wanted supporters to demonstrate peacefully.
