Editing Damnatio memoriae (section)

=== United Kingdom ===
An instance of ''damnatio memoriae''-esque policy instituted without governmental decree occurred in the aftermath of the [[Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal]]. Following extensive accusations of sexually abusing underage, disabled, and dead individuals, various public institutions in the United Kingdom took extensive measures to remove posthumous relics of Savile's public presence.<ref name="Rohrer 2012">{{Cite news |last=Rohrer |first=Finlo |date=1 November 2012 |title=Jimmy Savile: Erasing the memory |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-20165466 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250117173805/https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-20165466 |archive-date=17 January 2025 |access-date=26 March 2025 |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |ref=Rohrer 2012}}</ref> This included taking down monuments and memorials to Savile<ref>{{Cite news |last=Davies |first=Katie |date=13 October 2012 |title=Jimmy Savile removed from Great North Run history |url=http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/communities/newcastle/2012/10/13/jimmy-savile-removed-from-great-north-run-history-72703-32025062/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023232826/http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/communities/newcastle/2012/10/13/jimmy-savile-removed-from-great-north-run-history-72703-32025062/ |archive-date=23 October 2012 |access-date=13 October 2012 |work=[[Evening Chronicle]] |location=Newcastle}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Jeeves |first=Paul |date=9 October 2012 |title=Council orders removal of Jimmy Savile tribute |url=http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/350965/Council-orders-removal-of-Sir-Jimmy-Savile-tribute |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202180109/http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/350965/Council-orders-removal-of-Sir-Jimmy-Savile-tribute |archive-date=2 February 2014 |access-date=10 November 2012 |work=Daily Express |location=London}}</ref> (including his headstone),<ref>{{Cite news |date=10 October 2012 |title=Jimmy Savile's headstone removed from Scarborough cemetery |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-19893373 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118060407/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-19893373 |archive-date=18 January 2023 |access-date=14 October 2012 |work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=10 October 2012 |title=Savile's headstone removed by family |url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/1010/breaking3.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106054033/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/1010/breaking3.html |archive-date=6 November 2012 |access-date=14 October 2012 |work=The Irish Times |location=Dublin}}</ref> rechristening locations and awards previously named after him,<ref name="BBC17oct2012">{{Cite web |date=17 October 2012 |title=Jimmy Savile cafe renamed at Stoke Mandeville |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-19974841 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118060354/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-19974841 |archive-date=18 January 2023 |access-date=25 February 2018 |website=BBC News}}</ref> dissolving charity organizations named after him,<ref name="bbc-news-jimmy-savile-charities-have-no-future">{{Cite news |date=23 October 2012 |title=Jimmy Savile charities have no future, say trustees |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20001588 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326115408/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20001588 |archive-date=26 March 2022 |access-date=23 October 2012 |work=BBC News}}</ref> and suppressing episodes of television and radio shows which featured or explicitly referenced him.<ref name="Rohrer 2012" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=2 November 2012 |title=BBC axes Jimmy Savile 'Top of the Pops' reruns |url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a435261/bbc-axes-jimmy-savile-top-of-the-pops-reruns.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106114523/http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a435261/bbc-axes-jimmy-savile-top-of-the-pops-reruns.html |archive-date=6 November 2012 |access-date=13 September 2013 |work=Digital Spy}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=20 January 2013 |title=BBC receives 216 complaints for Tweenies Jimmy Savile spoof |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-21108337.amp |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407113233/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-21108337.amp |archive-date=7 April 2022 |access-date=16 October 2021 |work=BBC News}}</ref> In the immediate aftermath of the scandal, BBC News reporter Finlo Rohrer commented that {{qi|As bloggers have already noted, the Romans would have understood the Savile erasures as ''damnatio memoriae'' [...] people will be able to see the spot where a plaque to him once rested. They may know that a path was once named after him.}}<ref name="Rohrer 2012" />