David Sullivan has resigned as a West Ham co-owner and director after a BBC Panorama investigation, with allegations spanning decades including claims of sexual abuse of seven women who were models in their late teens or early twenties. Sullivan denies the all
West Ham co-owner David Sullivan stepped down over the weekend as a BBC Panorama investigation into allegations of sexual abuse and predatory behaviour was set to be broadcast and published on Monday.
The claims cover decades, with allegations dating back to the 1980s. Seven women — described as models in their late teens or early twenties at the time — say they were sexually exploited while seeking work connected to Sullivan’s Daily and Sunday Sport newspapers.
Sullivan, 77, denies the accusations. He resigned while protesting his innocence after the BBC and The Times confirmed they would publish findings from their joint investigation.
At the centre of one account is Sacha Wall, the only alleged victim who wanted to be named. Wall says that when she was 24 and an aspiring model, Sullivan tried to pressure her into a sexual encounter by suggesting it would advance her career.
She claims that in 1998 she was invited to Sullivan’s private home in Essex for what she believed would be a business meeting. Wall says Sullivan was dressed very informally in flip-flops, red shorts and a t-shirt. She alleges he leafed through her modelling portfolio while repeating “very nice. very nice” in a way that made her uncomfortable.
Wall says he then told her to follow him upstairs and undress down to her underwear. She claims she complied because she was interested in topless modelling work. before Sullivan allegedly told her to sit next to him. Wall says she moved away and put her bra back on. and when she told him she would not sleep with him. she alleges he looked “very shocked” and replied: “What. not even a blow job?”.
She says she later tried to leave but found the door locked, before Sullivan opened it when she demanded to be let out. Wall says she subsequently appeared in Sullivan’s Sport newspaper, but that she was often given the worst jobs.
Alongside these allegations, the BBC also reports that Sullivan separately admitted paying for sex in the 1990s with a girl he understood to be 16 or 17 years old. The material adds that he was in his 40s at the time and that it only became illegal to pay for sex with someone aged 16 or 17 in 2003.
In his resignation statement, Sullivan said: “I have recently become aware that factually incorrect and entirely false, decades-old allegations concerning my personal life are due to be broadcast and published.”
He continued: “The false allegations levelled against me have been sensationalised by the media. 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.”
Sullivan said: “I categorically deny these claims.”
He added that he has “not been provided with any proper explanation as to how these individuals or their claims were independently verified or assessed for credibility prior to publication. ” and that he believes the process has been “fundamentally unfair and completely lacking in any due impartiality.”.
He also said: “I will be suing the BBC for libel, along with any other media outlet that repeats any libelous allegations.”
The BBC responded that Panorama and The Times have been working together on a joint investigation into the behaviour of David Sullivan. who has announced he is stepping down as joint-chair and director of West Ham United FC. It said that over decades he has “made millions from pornography. newspapers. and football. ” and that the investigation is due to be broadcast and published on Monday.
The questions now aren’t only legal and personal — they are also club-wide. With Sullivan stepping down, attention turns to what comes next inside West Ham, including whether a boardroom struggle takes shape. Czech co-chairman Daniel Kretinsky is understood to harbour reservations over a mooted plan for Sullivan’s two sons. Jack and David. to replace him.
Kretinsky, who has a 27 per cent stake, may seek to increase his holding and take control of the club.
A boardroom decision will land in the shadow of the Panorama broadcast — but for Sullivan. it’s the broadcast itself that he insists is built on falsehood. For Wall and the other women named in the investigation. it is a reckoning that has reached a public stage after years of allegations dating back to the 1980s.
David Sullivan West Ham BBC Panorama sex abuse allegations Sacha Wall Daniel Kretinsky Jack Sullivan Daily Sport Sunday Sport