West Ham United’s co-owner says TV programme’s ‘false’ allegations exposed him to ‘profound public hatred’, ‘universal ridicule’, ‘severe commercial alienation’ and ‘financial destruction’
David Sullivan is suing the BBC for £150m over multiple claims of sexual misconduct made by Panorama. Lawyers acting for West Ham United’s co-owner have lodged a High Court claim against the broadcaster over the programme’s investigation Predator: The Billionaire Football Boss which was screened in June.
It featured three women who alleged Sullivan had abused his power as the owner of the Sport newspapers to prey on them for sex when they were seeking work.
A further four women accused the 77-year-old billionaire of exploitative and predatory behaviour including allegations he tried to pressure them into sex during business meetings.
The BBC said reporters had spoken to dozens of former models and industry insiders with some sources alleging Sullivan was known for ‘casting couch’ behaviour. Sullivan vowed to take legal action against the Beeb even before the programme had aired.
In a statement in which he also resigned as West Ham’s co-chairman he said the accusations were ‘factually incorrect and entirely false’. He said: “The false allegations levelled against me have been sensationalised by the media.
“After a lifetime spent building businesses in the adult industry in which I have met thousands of women, it is sadly inevitable that a small number of improper conduct claims are being made against me. I categorically deny these claims.”
Sullivan’s High Court claim accuses the BBC of ‘libel and malicious falsehood’ in broadcasting the documentary. It states the programme caused ‘grave, catastrophic, and irreparable harm’ to Sullivan’s reputation and business interests.
The programme’s allegations opened him up to ‘profound public hatred, universal ridicule, and global opprobrium’ and ‘immediate and severe commercial alienation, banking disruption, and quantifiable financial destruction’, according to the court claim.
The BBC declined to comment.
Though no longer chairman, Sullivan remains West Ham’s largest shareholder owning 39% of the Championship club.
He has faced restrictions on his contact with West Ham’s women’s and youth teams for the past three years due to a Football Association safeguarding investigation.
Sullivan said through lawyers the restrictions were part of a ‘negotiated and temporary agreement’. He said the safeguarding investigation related to a ‘single anonymous complaint’ from an event in 1981 which he said ‘never happened’.
After the Panorama documentary, presenter Tony Livesey stepped back from his role as a BBC radio broadcaster. Earlier in his career Livesey, 62, had been editor-in-chief of Sullivan’s Sport newspapers.
But Livesey said he had had ‘practically zero’ contact with anyone appearing in the paper – including female models.
The BBC is already fighting an entirely separate claim brought against it by US President Donald Trump over an episode of Panorama that spliced together two parts of a speech.
The Beeb has apologised for the edit but maintains the programme did not defame Trump.