As the authorities continue to investigate several allegations of sexual misconduct against Tim Westwood, more information about the accusations has surfaced. Back in April, news surfaced that at least seven women had come forward with their stories of alleged interactions with the famed DJ, spanning from 1990 to 2020. The BBC has offered an update to this report after they spoke to many of the 64-year-old’s accusers including one woman who claimed she met the DJ at a club back in 1990 when she was just 14 years old.
“[Tim Westwood] would always see us. He’d let us in for free,” said Esther. “Sometimes he’d come and check on us: ‘Ah are you guys enjoying yourselves?’ And that’s how it started.”
Stuart C. Wilson / Stringer / Getty Images
She claimed he asked what her age was, and when she told him, she stated that he didn’t seem to be off-put. In fact, she said, he knew her household schedule—her mother worked nights, so Westwood would reportedly call her in the evenings when he knew she would be alone.
“I never gave consent [to sex], but I never said no either so, I just went along with it,” she said. “I kind of thought it was normal but that’s because I didn’t understand the gravity of the situation. It wasn’t a relationship and it wasn’t about love, it was just a thing, and a thing you couldn’t discuss with anybody.”
The relationship came to an end after Esther claimed she broke things off when she was 16. She added that she later felt as if he was grooming her, but she didn’t tell anyone about it out of fear that she would be blamed and face backlash.
BBC News, which noted that all of the alleged victims were Black, has highlighted this story and several others in their exposé documentary, Hip Hop’s Open Secret: Tim Westwood. The British DJ has vehemently denied all of the allegations against him.
[via]