Alan Yentob will step down from his role as creative director of the BBC because of the "serious distraction" caused by his role in the closure of Kids Company.
Yentob (pictured) was the chair for 18 years at the children's charity, which shut down earlier this year. He and the charity's chief executive, Camila Batmanghelidjh, have faced serious criticism ever since from the media and Parliament.
In a press release from the BBC Media Centre, released this morning, Yentob said he would step down at the end of the year. He said his decision was down to speculation over his role in the collapse of Kids Company and the “particularly challenging” times faced by the public broadcaster.
“The BBC is going through particularly challenging times and I have come to believe that the speculation about Kids Company and the media coverage revolving around my role is proving a serious distraction," he said.
“So I have spoken to Tony Hall and told him that I think it best that I step down from my senior management role as creative director at the end of this year and focus on programme making and TV production - including of course the Imagine Series. I will also continue supporting Christine Langan and her team as chairman of BBC Films.”
In the same statement, Tony Hall, director general of the BBC, said that he did not think Yentob’s role as chair of Kids Company in anyway negatively influenced the broadcaster’s coverage of the charity’s collapse.
He also said that Yentob had “been thinking about this carefully for some time”.
“For the record, BBC News considered whether Alan Yentob had influenced the BBC’s journalism on the reporting of Kids Company," he said. "They concluded that he did not. Despite that, I understand his reasons for stepping down as creative director. He has been thinking about this carefully for some time and we have discussed it privately on a number of occasions.”
Hall also praised Yentob as a “towering figure” in British media and the arts and said that he was pleased that he would continue working with the BBC in some capacity in the future.
“Alan is a towering figure in television, the arts, and a creative force for good for Britain. He has served the BBC with distinction in a number of different executive roles – all of which have been characterised by his energy, creativity and commitment to public service. He has an extraordinary roll-call of achievement.
“I am pleased that Alan will be continuing his brilliant work as a programme maker at the BBC in the future.”
Yentob was previously the chair of the now defunct charity Kids Company. He gave evidence to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee alongside the charity’s founder and former chief executive Camila Batmanghelidjh in October, where he said he had “taken over” Kids Company’s finances in January.
