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A: A knighthood is for life and life only, so he cannot be stripped of it posthumously even by the King, let alone us.
Q: Then why can't you remove it?
A: Extensive consensus is against it.
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Jimmy Savile was a Media and drama good articles nominee, but did not meet the good article criteria at the time. There may be suggestions below for improving the article. Once these issues have been addressed, the article can be renominated. Editors may also seek a reassessment of the decision if they believe there was a mistake.
Change Sir Jimmy Saville to Jimmy Saville. Yhe Knighthood is a Living Order and Jimmy Saville ceased to be a member on his death as confirmed by the Forfeiture Committee reported by many publications. 2A00:23C6:9886:5D01:F0A3:8D22:461E:102F (talk) 16:33, 5 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Not done: see the FAQ and many talk page discussions about this.--♦IanMacM♦(talk to me) 17:13, 5 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
I guess this fact makes my life a tad simpler. I recently made my first financial contribution to Wikipedia, won't be making that mistake in the future. I don't support entities that give the technical benefit of the doubt to multiple, serial pedophiles. Dr.gregory.retzlaff (talk) 15:24, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
The article doesn't 'give the benefit of the doubt' over anything. Including the fact that Savile was knighted, and that the knighthood has not been/cannot be retroactively rescinded. And frankly, I am at a loss as to why people think that attempting to downplay the fact that he was knighted would be in any way a responsible thing to do. There are very good grounds to argue that due diligence was not carried out by those responsible for the knighthood, but that is their responsibility, not Wikipedia's. Take it up with the British government. AndyTheGrump (talk) 16:27, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Any complaints about Savile's knighthood should be directed to Margaret Thatcher, who insisted on giving Savile a knighthood in 1990 despite repeated warnings from civil servants. It is not the job of Wikipedia to right great wrongs or censor the history books, since the current rules do not allow a person to be stripped of a knighthood after their death. We never seem to have this argument over at Cyril Smith, even though Thatcher and David Steel were just as unwise to allow him to have a knighthood despite clear warnings.--♦IanMacM♦(talk to me) 17:00, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Semi-protected edit request on 19 March 2024[edit]
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The article currently reads, “After his death, hundreds of allegations of sexual abuse made against him were investigated”; months back, I started a discussion at Talk:Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal#How should we keep this article close to neutral? concerning the use of terms such as "alleged". I felt it’s probably best to drop “alleged” from any article. Can anyone clarify if any consensus has been reached? 92.17.198.220 (talk) 04:44, 28 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Savile's reputation is in ruins, but the previous consensus is that he was never charged or convicted of any crimes because the major controversy occurred after his death. We can't write history backwards.--♦IanMacM♦(talk to me) 07:54, 28 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Allegations remain allegations until proven or disproven. That's how the English and Welsh legal system works, or fails to work, depending on your viewpoint. Martinevans123 (talk) 08:47, 28 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Would it not be appropriate to add some reference to the sex offence allegations to the first sentence of this article? Jimmy Savile is (now) at least as well known for his alleged sex offences as for his media career.
Also worthy of note, is that Google (also possibly other search engines) tends to scrub the first few sentences of a Wikipedia article to prvide a brief description of a search term, which at present does not include any reference to the aforementioned allegations. Notwithstanding the need for proper non-bias (ie. not removing "Sir"; repeated use of the word alleged, etc.) surely adding "... and alleged serial sex-offender" or similar to the first sentence would be a good idea? BobSagetOoosh (talk) 05:44, 3 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
This question comes up a few times a year and should probably be included as an FAQ at the top of the page. Previous discussions (including an RfC) have decided that it does not belong in the first sentence.LM2000 (talk) 05:55, 3 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
WP:LEAD is what matters here. Wikipedia has no control over how Google displays a Wikipedia article, and they usually show only a very short piece of text. The current wording is the result of many discussions. Savile's media career is what made him notable, and he got the full national treasure treatment during his lifetime. But it all fell to pieces within 18 months of his death. The lead is written to provide this explanation for anyone capable of reading a paragraph of text. Even in the age of the internet, people should be capable of doing this.--♦IanMacM♦(talk to me) 07:07, 3 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]