Entwistle resigns over fall out from Newsnight documentary which led to Tory peer Lord McAlpine wrongly being branded a paedophile. New BBC boss George Entwistle resigned last night over the Newsnight sex-scandal fiasco just 55 days after he got the job.
Mr Entwistle, 50, was forced to make the humiliating decision following the shambles over the BBC2 investigation.
The £450,000-a-year Director-General had spent the day trying to defend a Newsnight documentary which led to Tory peer Lord McAlpine, 70, being wrongly branded a paedophile.
Mr Entwistle, a former editor of What HiFi? magazine, had been grilled by his own reporters on BBC Breakfast and Radio 4’s Today about the fact he hadn’t even watched the programme.
Wrongly The corporation was already facing strong criticism for dropping an earlier Newsnight report exposing Jimmy Savile as a child abuser.
Earlier yesterday Mr Entwistle insisted he had no intention of resigning.
His executives had apologised unreservedly for a report which led to the former Conservative party treasurer Lord McAlpine being wrongly implicated in the North Wales child sex Savile the abuse scandal of the 1970s and 1980s. But at 9pm last night Mr Entwistle and the chairman of the BBC Trust, Lord Patten, made a dramatic announcement on the steps of BBC headquarters in London.
The chief said the “wholly exceptional” events of last week had convinced him he should stand down.
He added: “In the light of the unacceptable journalistic standards of the Newsnight film broadcast on Friday 2nd November; I have decided that the honourable thing to do is to step down from the post of Director-General.”
Newsnight’s investigative programmes have been suspended while a probe is carried out. And there is mounting speculation the entire flagship show could be scrapped.
That will be an astonishing reversal for the show spearheaded by Jeremy Paxman, 62, who for years has struck terror into politicians he was grilling. MrEntwistle said: “The Director-General is also the Editorin-Chief and ultimately was responsible for all content. When appointed to the role, with 23 years’ experience as a producer and leader at the BBC, I was confident the Trustees had chosen the best candidate for the post, and the right person to tackle the challenges and opportunities ahead.
“However, the wholly exceptional events of the past few weeks have led me to conclude that the BBC should appoint a new leader.
“To have been the Director-General of the BBC even for a short period, and in the most challenging of circumstances, has been a great honour.”
Saddest Lord Patten, 68, a former Tory politician who oversaw the handover of the British colony Hong Kong back to China, paid tribute to Mr Entwistle.
He said the director-general had done the honourable thing in stepping down and added that it was “one of the saddest evenings of my public life”.
Mr Entwistle will be replaced by ex-Pepsi Cola executive Tim Davie, 45, currently the BBC’s Director of Audio & Music, who was due to take over as chief executive officer of highly-profitable BBC Worldwide in December.