Everything Louis Theroux has said about Jimmy Savile, after *that* controversial documentary

Louis Theroux has once again been forced to address his past connection to Jimmy Savile, and he’s not holding back.

The journalist hit back after being accused of being “friends” with Savile during a livestream appearance on his new Netflix documenatry, Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere. The documentary explores toxic masculinity and sees him spend time with self-styled alpha male influencers.

Netflix

While on a livestream with HStikkytokky in Marbella, a stream commenter accused Theroux of being close to Savile. Harrison read it aloud, asking: “Someone on the live said you’re very good friends with Jimmy Savile. What have you got to say for yourself?”

Theroux shut it down quickly: He said he had actually helped expose Savile while he was still alive, before adding bluntly that he couldn’t exactly be friends with him now.

His original documentary with Savile

BBC

Back in 2000, Theroux spent two weeks with Savile filming an episode of When Louis Met….

At the time, Savile was still a hugely popular TV figure, despite long-circulating rumours about his behaviour.

During filming, Theroux directly questioned him about allegations he had a sexual interest in children. Savile’s response was evasive and unsettling, suggesting he deliberately claimed not to like children to throw tabloids off the scent, while also insisting nobody could prove anything either way.

Years later, after Savile’s death in 2011, hundreds of allegations surfaced, revealing the scale of his abuse. A joint report by the NSPCC and the Metropolitan Police found around 450 people had come forward with complaints spanning decades.

Theroux says he tried to report him

BBC

Theroux has since said he attempted to report Savile in 2001 after a young woman claimed she’d been in a relationship with him at 15. However, nothing came of it.

He’s also admitted that the experience had a lasting impact on his career, saying some high-profile figures later refused to take part in his documentaries because of his association with Savile.

Calling Savile the “worst person” he ever met

In more recent interviews, Theroux hasn’t softened his stance. Speaking to Ladbible, he described Savile as the worst person he had ever encountered.

At the same time, he’s been open about the complexity of their interactions, admitting that during filming he sometimes found himself warming to Savile in quieter, off-camera moments – something that later haunted him once the truth emerged.

His 2016 reckoning

BBC

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Theroux revisited the subject in his 2016 documentary, Savile, reflecting on both Savile’s crimes and his own experience filming with him.

He said: “In a small way, I felt that I had an account of myself and how it was that I had not managed to show more of him.

“I’m very torn on this. Because on one level, I’m really proud of the original show and I feel it showed more than anyone else had while he was alive.

“On another level, I’m aware that we missed this vast secret that he had, and a little part of me feels disappointed with myself.”

He also suggested Savile had effectively sized him up during filming: “He agreed to do this. He saw me, seized me up and thought, ‘you know what, I can give this guy two weeks of access and I’m not too worried that he’s going to uncover the fact I’m a sexual predator’.

“In that calculation, he was correct. Which is rather galling.”

“There’s nothing I could have said”

BBC

Looking back, Theroux has been clear that he doesn’t believe he could have forced a confession during the original documentary.

“There’s nothing I could have said then that would have made him be honest about anything,” he told Big Issue.

“He was obviously a pathological liar as well as a sexual predator. He was so wrapped up in his pathology, so wrapped up in his predatory characteristics, it would be almost impossible to communicate with him meaningfully about any of it.”

Wanting one final confrontation

Despite that, Theroux has said if he could have one final conversation with Savile, it would be on very different terms.

“You could do a sort of, almost a piece of theatre, some sort of intervention. You could shout at him. But I’m not sure quite what good that would do me, whether that would be in any way helpful to me,” he said.

“I’d prefer to focus on the dignity of the survivors. So if I could facilitate some kind of act of holding him to account that involved some of the victims, that would mean something to me.”

He has even suggested bringing a victim into that conversation to confront Savile directly, shifting the focus away from himself and onto those affected.

While he maintains he pushed further than most journalists at the time, he’s been open about the fact he still feels he missed something far bigger, and that it’s something that continues to haunt him.

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Featured image credit: BBC