David Sullivan is suing the BBC for £150m over multiple claims of sexual misconduct made in a documentary.
Lawyers acting for Sullivan, who remains West Ham United’s co-owner, have lodged a high court claim against the corporation over its Panorama investigation Predator: The Billionaire Football Boss, which was broadcast 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 Sullivan of exploitative and predatory behaviour, including allegations he had tried to pressure them into sex during business meetings.
As part of a joint investigation, the BBC and the Times said their reporters had spoken to dozens of former models and industry insiders, with some sources alleging Sullivan was known for “casting couch” behaviour.
The former pornographer vowed to take legal action against the BBC even before the programme had aired. In a statement in which he also resigned as West Ham’s co-chair, he said the accusations were “factually incorrect and entirely false”.
“The false allegations levelled against me have been sensationalised by the media,” he said. “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, first seen by the Telegraph, accuses the BBC of “libel and malicious falsehood” in airing the documentary. It states the show caused Sullivan “grave, catastrophic, and irreparable harm” to his reputation and business interests.
It states that the programme’s claims opened the 77-year-old up to “profound public hatred, universal ridicule, and global opprobrium”, as well as “immediate and severe commercial alienation, banking disruption, and quantifiable financial destruction”.
The BBC declined to comment.
While Sullivan has resigned as West Ham’s co-chair, he remains the Championship club’s largest shareholder, owning 39% of its shares.
It has also emerged that Sullivan has faced restrictions on his contact with West Ham’s women’s and youth teams since 2023 because of a safeguarding investigation.
The Football Association began an inquiry three years ago after receiving a complaint, which the Guardian understands involves an allegation of sexual misconduct unrelated to football.
Sullivan said through lawyers that the restrictions were part of a “negotiated and temporary agreement” and that the safeguarding investigation related to a “single anonymous complaint” from an event in 1981. He said the alleged incident “never happened”.
After the BBC documentary, the presenter Tony Livesey stepped back from the broadcaster. Earlier in his career, Livesey had been the editor-in-chief of Sullivan’s Sport newspapers. The BBC investigation raised questions for the 62-year-old, with one alleged victim saying he had arranged a meeting between her and Sullivan.
Livesey has said he has “no recollection” of introducing the young woman to Sullivan and that it was “not part” of his job to do so. He said he had had “practically zero” contact with anyone appearing in the paper, such as female models.
Another high-profile legal case would be a blow for the BBC, which is already fighting a claim brought against it by Donald Trump. The US president has taken legal action over an episode of Panorama that spliced together two parts of a speech.
The BBC has apologised for the edit, but has always maintained the programme did not defame Trump.
