Huw Edwards ‘breaks silence’ on Scott Mills axe as his rep blasts DJ’s sacking

Huw Edwards has liked a post highlighting how “stressful” Scott Mills will be finding his BBC axe.

It comes after Huw was sacked by the BBC and found guilty of child sex offences. Mills has been accused of historic sexual offences towards a boy under the age of 16. However, he was investigated by the Met Police at the time the complaint was made, and there wasn’t enough evidence to charge him.

Now, Huw Edwards – whose own scandal was the subject of Channel 5 dramatisation Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards last month – has broken his silence on the subject by liking a post on LinkedIn.

‘Losing a job is stressful’

The post made by celebrity crisis management expert Lauren Beeching suggested the BBC had fueled speculation about the DJ by announcing he had been sacked over his ‘personal conduct’.

The post read: “The update around Scott Mills leaving the BBC is a good example of how organisations manage risk. And how that can unintentionally create a second reputational problem.  The BBC said he is ‘no longer contracted’ and referenced ‘allegations about personal conduct’, while declining to comment further. From a legal and corporate perspective, that is entirely understandable.”

However, she added: “The difficulty is that ‘personal conduct’ is so broad it tells the public almost nothing. It could refer to a wide range of issues, some serious, some not. But once that wording is out there, people start filling in the gaps themselves. That is where things shift.”

She then continued: “The more extreme interpretations tend to travel faster. And very quickly speculation becomes more damaging than the statement itself.  For the individual, that is an atrocious position to be in. Losing a job is stressful enough. Losing it publicly, while people try to work out what you may have done, is another level entirely.

“At the same time, he may not be free to say much either. And that is the part people often miss. The silence is not always avoidance. It is often constraint. But in the gap between what can be said and what people want to know, the narrative rarely waits for permission.”

Huw was among those liking the post.

Huw Edwards’ agent jokes about Scott Mills sacking

Meanwhile, the disgraced newsreader’s publicist has also spoken about Mills’ sacking.

Barry Tomes, who was brought in ahead of the recent Channel 5 drama, said of the decision to fire Mills: “This is the world we live in.”

Posting online, according to the Daily Mail, Tomes joked that the BBC probably sacked Scott Mills for calling a junior member of staff “love”.

Sharing a picture of himself with Mills, he said: “Please people stop contacting me. I have no idea why Scott Mills was sacked by the BBC. Yes that is me with Mills but I am not a consultant for ex BBC employees.

“My guess he said ‘thanks love’ when a runner gave him a cup of coffee. That person is now off sick with anxiety. This is the world we live in.”

Read more: Richard Bacon sparks backlash as he defends Scott Mills over ‘public humiliation’ in now-deleted tweets

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