Baroness Karren Brady remained in one of the most senior positions at West Ham United for almost two years after learning that co-owner David Sullivan had been restricted from contacting the club’s women’s and youth teams because of safeguarding concerns.

The former vice-chair, who stepped down from her role in April, acknowledged through lawyers that she became aware in July 2023 that the Football Association had raised concerns about Sullivan after receiving a complaint relating to a historic allegation dating back to the 1980s.

Despite that knowledge, Baroness Brady continued working at the club until the closing weeks of last season, insisting she relied on the principle of a ‘presumption of innocence’ because Sullivan denied the allegation.

The development raises fresh questions for the Apprentice star and Conservative peer, who has built a public profile championing women’s rights and speaking out against powerful men accused of abusing their positions.

In correspondence sent to the BBC on Friday, Baroness Brady’s lawyers confirmed she knew restrictions had been imposed on Sullivan’s access to West Ham’s women’s and academy set-up.

However, they insisted she played no role in the decision.

According to the letter, Baroness Brady ‘was not involved in the decision made by West Ham in conjunction with the local authority and the FA to impose restrictions on Sullivan’s access to the club’s women’s and youth teams’.

Instead, her role was to ‘ensure the club’s established and robust safeguarding structures, procedures and necessary confidentialities were followed and respected throughout’.

Brady was appointed managing director of Birmingham City aged 23 when Sullivan co-owned the club and was vice-chair at West Ham for 16 years (pictured together around 1993)

West Ham United fans hold up No More BS Just resign flags featuring caricatures of Karren Brady and David Sullivan as they protest against the ownership in January 2026

Her lawyers said she had ‘no knowledge’ of the allegations revealed by the investigation and added that she was ‘not involved in, nor did she witness… [any] of the incidents alleged in the reports’.

Sullivan has categorically denied all allegations against him.

Baroness Brady’s legal team also rejected suggestions that remaining at West Ham while promoting women’s rights amounted to hypocrisy.

‘There is no inconsistency or hypocrisy between our client advocating for the protection of women and respecting the confidential safeguarding investigation and process that was being managed by the appropriate safeguarding professionals and statutory authorities,’ they said.

Baroness Brady, 57, has worked alongside Sullivan for much of her professional life.

After beginning her career at his Sport Newspapers business, she was appointed managing director of Birmingham City at the age of 23 following Sullivan’s takeover of the club in 1993.

When Sullivan became part of the consortium that bought West Ham in 2010, Baroness Brady joined him as vice-chair and went on to play a prominent role in securing the club’s controversial move to the Olympic Stadium.

Her departure from West Ham in April, five matches before the end of the Premier League season, prompted speculation after she issued a farewell statement thanking ‘the board, management, players, staff and supporters’ without mentioning Sullivan.

Questions about Baroness Brady’s loyalty to powerful men facing allegations are not new.

In her 2012 autobiography, Strong Woman, she wrote: ‘I have had David Sullivan in my life for virtually the whole of my career, and I know, if things get tough, that he will be on my side.

Baroness Brady (pictured in 1995) faces calls to distance herself from David Sullivan’s (centre) past after he was accused of preying on women for sex. He denies any wrongdoing

Brady (left) serves as an aide to Lord Sugar (centre) on BBC show The Apprentice

Brady (left, with husband Paul Peschisolido) at a West Ham game in September 2025 alongside Sullivan (second right, with partner Ampika Pickston) 

‘Loyalty goes both ways. And loyalty is created by mutual respect, by promoting people and allowing them to take credit for their work, and standing in front of them when things have not gone right.’

The peer has previously defended her decision to work within businesses linked to the adult industry.

‘People tend to jump to conclusions about the pornography associations of Sport Newspapers, but I wasn’t working on any top-shelf titles,’ she wrote.

‘I was working on the Sunday Sport, and the paper was very different in those days. Nonetheless I still get criticism about that time – people say, ‘How can you stand up for women’s rights when you worked in the porn business?’

‘Well, the answer is that I didn’t work in the porn business. To me, that criticism is a bit like saying, ‘Sky has an adult channel, so if you work for Sky that means you work in pornography.’ Of course it doesn’t.’

Baroness Brady has also publicly criticised men accused of sexual misconduct.

Writing about Harvey Weinstein, she described him as ‘a serial predator with such colossal amounts of power that people think they have no choice but to put up with grotesque advances if they want a career in Hollywood’.

She also wrote: ‘What Michael Fallon [who resigned as defence secretary in 2017 over inappropriate flirtation], Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey [who was accused of sexually harassing actors] are accused of abusing their power in an organisation to get someone to do something they don’t want to do, or tolerate something they don’t like.

West Ham United fans hold up a flag depicting David Sullivan, Joint-Chair of West Ham United, and Karren Brady, Vice Chair of West Ham United, in protest prior to the Premier League match in October 2025 

‘Lots of men are asking: ‘When is it appropriate to touch a colleague?’ If you are in doubt, how about… NEVER?’

In another column, Baroness Brady said: ‘It’s not just film. There is a Harvey Weinstein in every industry – the man at the top who abuses their power, who has no respect for women, who thinks women owe him something and it is a perfectly reasonable trade-off to exchange sex for work.’

Baroness Brady has been a member of the House of Lords since 2014 and has appeared alongside Lord Sugar on BBC One’s The Apprentice for the past 16 years.