BBC Boss Says Huw Edwards Won’t Return After Conviction of “Appalling” Crimes: “An Affair Like This Impacts Our Reputation”

The , the U.K. public broadcaster, has been hurt by Huw Edwards’ crimes said at a big industry conference in London on Tuesday.

“An affair like this impacts our reputation,” he said while emphasizing that the full fallout on the TV giant isn’t clear yet. But he also argued: “You can maintain trust by doing the right thing.” Speaking during a keynote address at the 2024, he addressed the , suspended for two years, handed to former BBC News presenter on Monday after he to making indecent images of children.

The 63-year-old said he was “profoundly sorry” for the “repugnant” images before he was sentenced. Could Edwards return to the BBC? “I can’t see that happen,” Davie said. “This man has just been convicted of appalling crimes.

” How about the impact on the archive? Will old programs featuring the former host be banned or locked? “I would never say never,” Davie said, signaling a case-by-case approach rather than a blanket ban on the use of archival footage of Edwards. The BBC boss also shared that “we wrestled with it” when he and others decided to continue paying the former host, calling that “a very difficult call.” But the decision to keep paying him until he was charged, which the BBC boss argued was the correct way to proceed, was reached with everyone acting “in good faith,” he said.

However, the BBC will review what it could have done differently, such as maybe putting Edwards’ pay into a separate pot and keeping it there .