New York Times Co. CEO Mark Thompson got into an angry exchange with a British TV crew outside his Upper West Side apartment. The confrontation erupted when reporters asked British-born Thompson, former BBC director general, about the late BBC radio and TV personality Jimmy Savile, who allegedly sexually abused hundreds of children from 1955 to 2009.

Thompson, who moved to New York to join the Gray Lady last November, screamed at a UK Channel 4 news crew last month, according to a witness, who tells us the British station is working on an exposé on Savile. Thompson was the chief executive of Channel 4 before he took over at the BBC from 2004 to September 2012.

“I saw a cameraman and a reporter speaking to Thompson outside his apartment before rush hour,” says the source. “He was tense and angry and was talking very loudly. They followed him around the corner and he lost his temper and shouted at them. It really caused a scene.” The source added, “Someone needs to tell him that we can do without this kind of scene happening in the neighborhood.”

A rep for the Times insists we have the story wrong, stating, “A number of weeks ago, there was a crew waiting for Mark on the street near his apartment. He spoke to them as he walked to the subway. Perhaps he spoke loudly — they were on a busy Upper West Side street during rush hour, after all. However, it was the interviewer who lost his temper, so much so that the producer had to stop the filming.” The rep concedes, “Our understanding is that the interviewer was working on behalf of Channel 4 and the questions were regarding Savile.”

Thompson is due back in England next month to appear before the Public Accounts Committee to answer questions about more than $1 million in severance payments that were made to BBC executives, exceeding contractual obligations, during his time in charge of the organization. The Times rep said, “Mark is testifying in Parliament on Sept. 9. These two issues are completely unrelated.”