Huw Edwards, Gaza and Gregg Wallace: A full timeline of the BBC scandals that occurred on former director-general Tim Davie’s watch
May 2021
Less than a year after taking office, BBC director general Tim Davie was forced to apologize after an investigation revealed that former BBC Panorama correspondent Martin Bashir had lied to obtain his 1995 interview with Princess Diana.
His sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, said Bashir’s practices were unethical.
Mr Davie acknowledged in the interview that there had been ‘more than one serious failing’.
July 2023
Huw Edwards, the company’s highest-paid newsreader, has been suspended from the BBC on full pay following allegations he communicated inappropriately with young men on social media. A lawsuit was later filed for possession of indecent images of children.
A spokesman for the BBC said the corporation was ‘horrified’ by Edwards’ crimes and that Edwards had ‘betrayed not only the BBC but also the viewers who trusted him’. Mr Davie later commissioned a workplace culture review following the scandal.
Police mugshot of fallen BBC newsreader Huw Edwards
January 2025
The Mail on Sunday has revealed that opera singer and BBC presenter Wynne Evans made a sexualized comment by using the term ‘spit fry’ in a comment directed at Strictly Come Dancing professional Janette Manrara.
He was subsequently dropped from the Strictly tour and dropped from the BBC Radio Wales programme.
Tim Davie’s time as BBC director-general was rocked by scandal after scandal
February 2025
The BBC broadcast Gaza: How to Survive in a War Zone, narrated by a Palestinian boy named Abdullah Al-Yazouri. It was later revealed that his father was a Hamas official.
Mr Davie apologized, saying there was a ‘significant lack of accuracy’ and the BBC received a sanction from Ofcom.
Abdullah Al-Yazouri in Gaza: How to Survive in a War Zone
May 2025
Gary Lineker has left Match Of The Day.
He was suspended from presenting the program after tweets criticizing the government’s asylum policy in 2023, and Mr Davie oversaw a new stance towards the BBC’s talent using social media.
Then, in May of this year, Lineker shared an Instagram post about Zionism that included an image of a mouse, which has historically been used as an anti-Semitic slur.
Although he apologized, he later resigned from his BBC duties altogether.
June 2025
Bob Vylan’s performance at Glastonbury caused outrage, with the frontman’s performance including chants of ‘death, death to the IDF’ and fucking Zionists.
Mr Davie apologized for the broadcast, which included ‘offensive and deplorable behaviour’.
The BBC described the decision not to film the live broadcast as an ‘error of judgement’ and removed the set from on-demand viewing.
The BBC’s Administrative Complaints Unit found that the broadcast had breached editorial rules.
July 2025
An independent report has found that 45 of 83 abuse allegations against MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace were upheld, as well as an allegation that co-host John Torode used a ‘deeply offensive racist term’.
Both hosts were taken off air, but the final series was still airing; Mr Davie argued that the demonstration was ‘much bigger than individuals’.
Gregg Wallace on Masterchef
November 2025
An internal report last week revealed that the Panorama programme, which aired a week before the 2024 US election, ‘completely misled’ viewers by stitching together two clips of Donald Trump’s speech to make it look like he was encouraging the Capitol Hill riots.
His son Donald Trump Jr this week accused the BBC of fraud and ‘fake news’.
