Tony Livesey has left BBC 5 Live after allegations surfaced connecting his previous career as editor-in-chief of David Sullivan's Sport newspapers to the sexual exploitation scandal now engulfing Sullivan. Staff at the station were told on 3 August that Livesey would not be returning to his presenting role, according to The Guardian.

Heidi Dawson, controller of BBC 5 Live, told staff that Livesey had decided to leave his presenting role. Livesey had been a fixture at the station for 16 years, hosting the 10pm-to-1am show four nights a week. His departure closes a chapter that began when he left the Sport titles in 2006 to concentrate on broadcasting, after an 18-year career there that took him from reporter to editor-in-chief.

The catalyst was a BBC Panorama investigation, conducted jointly with the Times over a two-year period, that accused Sullivan of sexually exploitative and predatory behaviour towards women over several decades. The investigation reported on seven women who accused Sullivan of sexual misconduct. Three of them alleged that Sullivan abused his power as owner of the Sport newspapers to prey on them for sex when they were seeking work. Sullivan has denied the allegations. Through his lawyers, he said: "I categorically deny all of these complaints."

The link to Livesey is twofold. First, an alleged victim in the investigation said Livesey had arranged a meeting between her and Sullivan. Livesey said he has "no recollection" of introducing the young woman to Sullivan and that it was "not part" of his job to do so. Second, a passage in a 1998 book by Livesey described how he and Sullivan devised the idea for a "countdown to 16" feature, which counted down to models' 16th birthdays, when they could be pictured topless legally for the first time. Livesey has said the feature was "categorically" not his idea and that large parts of his book were "fictionalised."

Livesey had initially stepped back from his 5 Live show in June 2026, following the Panorama broadcast. The BBC confirmed the step-back at the time, and The Telegraph reported his temporary removal from programming. The Mirror subsequently reported that he would not return. The step-back has now become a permanent departure.

The repercussions for Sullivan extend well beyond the Sport newspapers. He announced his resignation as a director and co-chair of West Ham United on 6 June 2026. Sullivan owns a 38.8% stake in the club, and a football regulator could force him to sell that stake. A temporary agreement has been in place for three years, since a Football Association safeguarding investigation into Sullivan's contact with West Ham's women's and youth teams began, restricting his access to those squads.

The broader context here is one of institutional accountability catching up with past conduct across intersecting domains — media, sport, and regulation. The BBC found itself investigating a figure connected to one of its own presenters, while simultaneously broadcasting the findings. That the corporation's Panorama team collaborated with the Times over two years, reported on seven accusers, and then saw one of its own radio hosts implicated in the fallout, places the BBC in an unusually exposed position: both investigator and affected institution.

Livesey's insistence that his 1998 book was "fictionalised" and that he has no recollection of the alleged introduction creates a direct evidentiary clash with the claims of an identified alleged victim. The contest between a published first-person account and its subsequent disavowal is a pattern familiar from earlier media-conduct inquiries, and it is likely to be a focal point if any formal process follows.

For West Ham, Sullivan's June resignation as director and co-chair did not address the ownership question. His 38.8% stake remains. The prospect of a football regulator compelling a sale would mark one of the most forceful interventions by the nascent regulatory body, and it would set a precedent linking conduct uncovered in a media investigation to a regulatory outcome in a different sector entirely. The FA safeguarding investigation, running for three years already, adds a parallel track.

For 5 Live, Livesey's exit removes a long-serving presenter whose late-night slot was a known quantity. How the station fills those hours, and whether the broader Sullivan investigation produces further names connected to the Sport newspapers, are the open questions as of 3 August 2026.