Alan Yentob has said the speculation about his role at the failed charity Kids Company means he can longer continue as BBC creative director.
Mr Yentob, who was chairman of trustees at the charity, has stepped down from his role at the corporation.
He has always insisted there was no conflict of interest in his decision to call Newsnight about its investigation into Kids Company and had not "abused my position at the BBC".
In a statement, he said: "The BBC is going through particularly challenging times and I have come to believe that the speculation about Kids Company and the media coverage revolving around my role is proving a serious distraction."
The charity folded on 5 August this year, just six days after receiving a £3m grant in a final bid to keep it afloat.
Mr Yentob added: "I have spoken to Tony Hall and told him that I think it best that I step down from my senior management role as Creative Director at the end of this year and focus on programme making and TV production - including of course the Imagine Series. I will also continue supporting Christine Langan and her team as Chairman of BBC Films.
"I love the BBC and will continue to do everything I can to ensure that it thrives and fulfils the great expectations we all have of it."
The announcement comes two days after chairman of the BBC Trust Rona Fairhead confirmed the corporation's editorial standards committee were conducting a probe into Mr Yentob's involvement in the BBC's coverage of the charity.
He is said to have phoned the BBC 2 programme Newsnight in July as it prepared to broadcast a report suggesting the Government would withhold further funding for Kids Company unless its founder Camila Batmanghelidjh stood down.
But the BBC's director general Tony Hall said that BBC News had concluded that Mr Yentob had not tried to influence their reporting on the charity as he accepted his resignation.
He said: "Alan is a towering figure in television, the arts, and a creative force for good for Britain. He has served the BBC with distinction in a number of different executive roles - all of which have been characterised by his energy, creativity and commitment to public service. He has an extraordinary roll-call of achievement.
"For the record, BBC News considered whether Alan Yentob had influenced the BBC's journalism on the reporting of Kids Company. They concluded that he did not. Despite that, I understand his reasons for stepping down as Creative Director. He has been thinking about this carefully for some time and we have discussed it privately on a number of occasions.
"I am pleased that Alan will be continuing his brilliant work as a programme maker at the BBC in the future."
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