West Ham co-owner David Sullivan sues BBC for £150m over Panorama sexual misconduct documentary

David Sullivan has filed a High Court defamation claim against the BBC for a reported £150 million, targeting the Panorama documentary that aired allegations of sexual misconduct against the former West Ham co-chairman on 8 June 2026.

Sullivan’s legal representatives, GSP Law Limited, confirmed they have been instructed to pursue “damages suffered as a consequence of the publication of defamatory material” in the programme, titled Predator: The Billionaire Football Boss. The BBC was notified of the intention to sue before the documentary was broadcast.

The Panorama programme featured seven women — six of them anonymous — who accused Sullivan of abusing his position at his Daily Sport and Sunday Sport newspapers, alleging he pressured models seeking work into sexual acts in exchange for career advancement. Sullivan denied all allegations, calling them “entirely false” and “sensationalised.”

In a statement, Sullivan said he had not been given “any proper explanation as to how these individuals or their claims were independently verified or assessed for credibility prior to publication,” adding that the “entire process has been fundamentally unfair” and “lacking in any due impartiality.”

Two days before the documentary aired, Sullivan resigned as director and co-chairman of West Ham, though he retains a 38.8% shareholding in the club. The 77-year-old built his fortune in the adult entertainment industry before moving into newspaper publishing and eventually football club ownership.

Following the broadcast, further reporting revealed that police investigations into sexual misconduct claims against Sullivan — spanning cases in 2008, 2021, and 2023 — had been dropped without charges, with inquiries handled primarily by Essex Police. It was also reported that the Football Association had introduced safeguarding measures restricting Sullivan’s contact with West Ham’s youth and women’s teams. Sullivan disputed that characterisation, describing the arrangement as a “temporary agreement” rather than a disciplinary ban, and stated: “The complaint had nothing to do about my time in football and it never happened.”