'The people at the top did this': Sir Cliff Richard opens up about BBC legal battle

5 November 2020, 21:06

Sir Cliff Richard opens up about BBC legal battle

Sir Cliff Richard has opened up to LBC about his legal battle with the BBC, in an exclusive interview.

Last year the singer received roughly £2million towards his legal costs from the BBC after agreeing a final settlement over a privacy case the year before.

The case concerned Sir Cliff arguing the BBC's reporting of a 2014 police raid, which was part of an investigation into historical child sex allegations, represented a "serious invasion" of his privacy. The singer was never arrested or charged.

Speaking to LBC's Iain Dale, Sir Cliff said: "From the word go, the BBC existed in my life...To me, the BBC are the producers, the presenters, the engineers. All those people are the BBC."

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He added: "I asked my lawyers why [I couldn't] just sue the names at the top that did this horrible thing to me, and they said [I couldn't] really because they represent the corporation."

"It's the people at the top that did this to me and it was not possible to actually sue them individually," he summarised.

Speaking of the "people at the top" who he held responsible, he added: "Although I'm past it...I can't forget that not one single person out of those five people...lost their job. Two of them got promoted."

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"So it's one of those things that you think they're not the true representation of the BBC.

"It's all the hardworking forces down below that really make the BBC."