DJ Tim Westwood ‘raking in money’ from YouTube channel that glamorises violent gang videos
The ex Radio 1 star, who is the son of a former Anglican bishop, hosts videos channel which allegedly show London gangs threatening rivals.
DJ TIM Westwood is profiting from hosting violent gang videos on YouTube an investigation has shown.
A leaked police database shows that the former BBC Radio star, who is the son of a bishop, hosts videos online allegedly showing gangs threatening rivals.
The Metropolitan Police confidential database seen by has tracked more than 600 suspects over 1,100 YouTube clips.
A total of 32 music videos hosted by Westwood have been identified as potentially inciting violence.
More than 50 people have been murdered in London this year alone, and last week police chief Cressida Dick warned that gangs goading rivals through rap videos could provoke violence “within minutes.”
Westwood, 60, hosted BBC Radio 1’s Rap Show for 20 years until finishing in 2013 and now earns money from advertising that appears on his channel.
The platform, called TimWestwoodTV, has amassed 388million views by broadcasting clips including hundreds of rap videos from mainstream stars and suspected gang members.
Other online videos posted by Westwood show suspected gang members making threats against their rivals while wearing balaclavas.
In one video the DJ introduces rappers by saying: “Representing the 7 baby! We’re going in with Gaza!”.
This is believed to be in reference to members of the Wood Grange E7 gang who refer to their area of Newham as Gaza.
During the video they chant “gang, gang, gang” as well as “The 8 (rival gang) are nothing, when we come they run. Two bells in a pump, you don’t want to feel these slugs.”
Adverts including Pizza Hut, EE, Asda and Subnautica have appeared on Westwood’s videos.
However, only Pizza Hut and computer game Subnautica have appeared on those including violent lyrics.
A spokeswoman for Westwood said: “These artists featured on TimWestwoodTV are rap groups not gangs.
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“There is no payment or fee to be featured on TimWestwoodTV.
“The freestyle sessions operate at a loss, as they do not even cover the production cost of making the video.
“We have a compliance process of all videos being approved before release by an executive producer in charge of content and editorial guidelines.
“Any threats of violence would be removed from the video.”
Westwood said he was unaware of any police requests or of gang links and would not recognise any gang members.
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