(London) Huw Edwards, a pillar of the BBC who presented the evening news for 20 years before finding himself at the heart of a sex scandal, has resigned, the public broadcasting group announced on Monday.
The former presenter, inseparable from the most significant events in the United Kingdom since the beginning of the 2000s, “resigned today and left the BBC”, wrote the group in a press release.
“After 40 years of service, Huw explained that he made his decision on the advice of his doctors,” adds the BBC.
Huw Edwards, a 62-year-old father, was suspended in July after being accused of paying a minor in exchange for sexual photos. He was then hospitalized, suffering from depression.
The affair, published in the tabloid The Sun, made the headlines in the British media in July, with the revelations trickling down over several days. The name of the journalist at the center of the affair was not initially given.
According to the mother of the minor, aged 17 at the start of the alleged facts, her son would have received 35,000 pounds from the presenter over three years, “in exchange for sordid photos”, which would have fueled his addiction to crack.
But this young man, aged 20 when the affair broke out, described the accusations as “rubbish”.
The police, for their part, indicated that they had not found any evidence indicating that a criminal offense had been committed.
The BBC was harshly criticized for its handling of the scandal and carried out an internal investigation concluding that there were inadequacies in its procedures for handling complaints about the behavior of its employees.
“The BBC has accepted his resignation, which it believes will allow all parties to move forward,” the group said in its statement.
Huw Edwards has long been one of the BBC’s best-known presenters and highest-paid journalist, with a salary for the 2022/2023 year of over £430,500 (around $728,000).
It was he who announced to the British the death of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8, 2022.
He also commented on the marriage of Prince William and Kate, the opening of the Olympic Games in 2012 and more recently the coronation of Charles III in May 2023.
Huw Edwards revealed in a documentary in 2021 that he suffered from depression which regularly left him “bedridden”.
“I thought it might help people if I opened up to them and said, ‘You can do a job and you can be successful.’ […] while managing problems like this,” he said.
A practicing Christian, Huw Edwards is married to television producer, Vicky Flind, with whom he has five children.
It was she who announced at the beginning of July that the journalist at the center of the accusations targeting a journalist, whose name was published by The Sun was Huw Edwards.