Huw Edwards Supports Scott Mills Amid Allegations

Disgraced former newsreader has liked a LinkedIn post sympathising with the 'stressful' situation of Scott Mills. 

The post made by celebrity crisis management expert Lauren Beeching suggested that the corporation had fueled speculation about the DJ by announcing he had been sacked over his 'personal conduct'.

It was later claimed by the Daily Mirror that Mills's dismissal was related to a 2016 police investigation into 'serious sexual offences' against a teenage boy aged under 16 in the 1990s. 

Edwards, who resigned from the corporation in 2024 amid reports he paid a 17-year-old boy for explicit images, liked the post on his LinkedIn account on Tuesday before removing it later in the day.

The 64-year-old was convicted of possessing indecent images of children in 2024.  

Beeching's post read: 'The update around Scott Mills leaving the BBC is a good example of how organisations manage risk, and how that can unintentionally create a second reputational problem.  

'The BBC said he is “no longer contracted” and referenced “allegations about personal conduct”, while declining to comment further. From a legal and corporate perspective, that is entirely understandable. 

'The BBC is publicly funded, heavily scrutinised, and likely navigating legal advice, internal process, confidentiality, and duty of care all at once. 

'The difficulty is that “personal conduct” is so broad it tells the public almost nothing. It could refer to a wide range of issues, some serious, some not, but once that wording is out there, people start filling in the gaps themselves. 

'That is where things shift. The more extreme interpretations tend to travel faster, and very quickly speculation becomes more damaging than the statement itself. 

'For the individual, that is an atrocious position to be in. Losing a job is stressful enough. Losing it publicly, while people try to work out what you may have done, is another level entirely. 

'At the same time, he may not be free to say much either. And that is the part people often miss. The silence is not always avoidance, it is often constraint. But in the gap between what can be said and what people want to know, the narrative rarely waits for permission.'

Mills last appeared on BBC Radio 2 last Tuesday, six days before news of his sacking was made public. 

The Daily Mail understands that the complaint which sparked his dismissal may have been made by someone who may have been inspired to speak out again this year following the new Huw Edwards docu-drama. 

One BBC executive in London told the Daily Mail today that there's a real belief amongst bosses at the corporation that the timing of Mills's sacking and the release of the Edwards drama was 'not a coincidence'.

Channel 5 documentary Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards released last week and detailed the downfall of the former BBC news anchor.

'The Huw Edwards drama showed that there could be a reckoning', a source said.

Edwards remained on the BBC's books for several months after being arrested by the Met Police in November 2023, when he was suspended by the corporation. 

His suspension continued while the investigation was ongoing, but he ultimately resigned on medical advice before charges of possessing indecent images of children were brought in early 2024. 

Mills, who is married to Scott Vaughan and would have been 24 at the time of the allegations, is thought to have been questioned by police in 2018.

The BBC is refusing to say why he was sacked other than that it was related to his 'personal conduct'. The corporation is now under pressure to explain what they knew about Mills's alleged brush with police and when.