British billionaire David Sullivan sues BBC for £150 million

British billionaire David Sullivan, the former joint chairman of West Ham United, is suing the BBC for more than £150 million, or about $200 million, over a Panorama documentary that broadcast allegations of historical sexual misconduct against him.

Court records show that Sullivan filed a claim for libel and slander against the corporation at the High Court on Thursday afternoon. A spokesperson for his law firm, GSP Law, confirmed it had been instructed to pursue the case. The BBC has not publicly responded to the claim.

The lawsuit concerns "Predator: The Billionaire Football Boss," which aired on June 8. The program featured seven women, six of them anonymous, who accused Sullivan of abusing his power over vulnerable people in what they described as "casting couch" situations. The allegations relate to the 1980s and 1990s, when Sullivan owned the Daily Sport and Sunday Sport newspapers. Panorama worked on the investigation with The Times for two years before it was broadcast.

Sullivan, 77, has repeatedly denied the allegations.

What the claim says

In his claim, Sullivan accuses the BBC of failing to meet the standards of responsible journalism, ignoring evidence that undermined key allegations and presenting disputed claims as fact.

His lawyers also take aim at how the program was made. They accuse the BBC of having "sensationalised the presentation by adopting the lurid, prejudicial title 'Predator'; and deploying dark, cinematic staging calculated to maximise public revulsion and prejudice the claimant's standing."

Besides damages, Sullivan is asking the court to order the BBC to remove the documentary from its platforms and to stop it from publishing the allegations again.

Before the program aired, Sullivan issued a statement calling the accusations "entirely false" and describing the reporting of them as "sensationalised." After the broadcast, the Telegraph reported that police investigations into sexual misconduct complaints against him, stretching back 18 years, had been dropped without charge.

The documentary has had consequences inside the BBC as well. Tony Livesey, a BBC executive and former editor of the Daily Sport, left the corporation in September after Panorama said he had set up a meeting between a glamour model and Sullivan in the 1990s.

Still a major West Ham shareholder

Sullivan stepped down as West Ham's joint chairman and as a director on June 6, two days before the program aired, after being told about the allegations. He described them as "factually incorrect," and the club said none of them related to West Ham or its operations.

He remains one of the club's biggest owners. Most reports put his stake at 38.8%, and one report in September said he had raised it to about 40% by buying shares from Vanessa Gold. Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský is now the largest shareholder. Sullivan was reported in June to be open to selling.

West Ham was relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2025-26 season and is now second in the Championship.

Sullivan built his fortune in adult publishing before moving into tabloid newspapers and property. He chaired Birmingham City from 1993 to 2009, then bought West Ham with the late David Gold in 2010. The 2025 Sunday Times Rich List valued him at £1.118 billion.

The BBC's second Panorama lawsuit

The claim is the second major defamation case the BBC faces over a Panorama program. US President Donald Trump has sued the broadcaster for $10 billion in a Florida court over an episode that edited together two parts of a speech he gave on Jan. 6, 2021. The BBC has apologized for the edit and acknowledged that it created "the mistaken impression" that Trump had made a direct call for violent action, but it denies defaming him and is seeking to have the case dismissed.

Under English law, Sullivan will have to show that the program caused serious harm to his reputation. The BBC can defend the claim by showing that the allegations were substantially true or that broadcasting them was in the public interest. The women's accounts remain allegations, which Sullivan denies and the BBC has broadcast.