BBC news presenter Huw Edwards was warned about his conduct online two years before the scandal that triggered his departure from the corporation, The Sunday Times reports.
Edwards, the chief anchor of BBC News and the go-to presenter for the country’s biggest events, including announcing Queen Elizabeth’s death in 2022 and helming the BBC’s coverage of King Charles’ Coronation in 2023, resigned from the BBC last week, nine months after The Sun newspaper first reported that he had paid thousands of pounds to a young person in exchange for explicit images.
The Sunday Times reports that a confidential review into the allegations and how the BBC treated its star presenter reveals that this was not the first complaint made about Edwards, that a woman from the public contacted the BBC in May 2021, after exchanging messages with the news presenter on social media. The Sunday Times says this complaint was investigated, and Edwards spoken to about his use of social media, that the pair’s interactions “had to stop.”
The newspaper reports that the pair continued to exchange messages and the woman made a further complaint in January 2022. She later retracted both complaints.
Edwards resigned last week on medical grounds after working at the BBC for four decades. He has not been seen on air since his resignation last summer, and the statement of his departure emphasised that he had not received a pay-off to reflect his shortened contract. However, he received full pay during his time off screen (as he was entitled to under UK sick leave rules) and the BBC continues to face questions about how it treats its most celebrated on-screen talent, also how it will treat the presentation of archive footage featuring Edwards in the future.
