BBC presenter Clive Myrie calls pro-Palestine student a ‘fucking idiot’

BBC newsreader Clive Myrie called a pro-Palestine student a “fucking idiot” and a “lunatic”, after being challenged over his coverage of the war in Gaza. 

The comments came at an event on 25 September intended to introduce Myrie, who was appointed chancellor of the University of the Arts London (UAL) in June, to students.

The session was interrupted by four members of the UAL Students for Justice in Palestine group, the first of whom stood up and accused Myrie of being “complicit in the genocide of the Palestinian people” through his “biased reporting”. 

“Since 7 October, the death toll of Palestinians stands at over 40,000. Yet you persist in presenting Israeli genocide, war crimes and apartheid as a two-sides issue,” the student said, before walking out. 

Video footage shared with Middle East Eye shows Myrie, over the course of the event, refer to the student as a “fucking idiot”, “pathetic”, a “moron” and a “lunatic”.

Immediately after the first student walked out, the BBC presenter said: “I get slagged off by people on the left talking about Palestinians and I get slagged off on the right from Israelis. And that suggests we are probably doing something right.”

Speaking about the student, Myrie, cross-legged and leaning back in his chair, continued: “He’s made his point and he’s left. He’s not stayed to listen to my argument… Stands up, shouts, you applaud, but he doesn’t stay to hear what I’ve got to say. That’s pathetic.”

Faculty members present at the event confirmed what had happened and told MEE that people were shocked and perplexed by Myrie’s behaviour, as the newsreader kept returning to the subject of the student walking out. 

The 60-year-old British journalist told the audience that he had been reporting from the Middle East since the early 2000s and had covered the Second Intifada (2000-05), showing the “absolutely appalling” conditions in Gaza. 

He said he had also been in Israel on 8 October 2023, that it was “a nation in shock” and that the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October were the “worst atrocity committed against Jews since the Holocaust”.

“Both sides are feeling pain. And my big problem is that neither side acknowledges the pain on the other side. Not that lunatic who walked out and didn’t have the courtesy to hear my response, and Israelis on the other side who refuse to acknowledge the pain on the other side in Gaza.” 

Returning to the subject of the student, Myrie said: “That’s the problem we have, neither side is talking to each other. And I have a fucking idiot shout at me in public and then leave. Really? He doesn’t want to hear the other side, and the other side don’t want to hear him.”

‘I was physically abused’

During the event, two other students got up to challenge Myrie and one other questioned him at length. 

The first referred to an incident in May, when the BBC newsreader told a journalism student that “the Palestinian people have no idea about the visceral sense of pain felt by the Israelis after 7 October”.

“Today by simply verbally abusing students bringing you the same deep concerns, you show that you have not changed from this position,” the student said. 

Myrie applauded the student before saying: “I fully accept your point of view and I am proud of the fact that you’ve stayed to in the room to hear what I’ve got to say. And I’ve already said it.” 

“I was physically abused by that student leaving the room. I was abused by that student leaving the room. It was discourteous and it was outrageous. I will not sit here and be abused in that way,” he said. 

A spokesperson for the UAL’s UCU, a trade union representing a large number of academics, told MEE: “It is totally unacceptable for the chancellor of a university to behave the way Clive Myrie did. No other chancellor in the UK would have reacted to a student like that and any staff member who did would be subject to a disciplinary investigation.”

A University of the Arts London spokesperson said: “On Wednesday 25 September, Clive Myrie held a Q&A session with students to mark the start of the term. During the event, some students expressed their views on the ongoing war in Israel-Palestine. 

“At the start of the session, Clive used language he regrets. His apology was sent to attendees shortly after the event ended. Clive stands by his sentiment that dialogue should be rooted in mutual respect.

“At UAL, we will continue to uphold freedom of expression and encourage constructive conversations about all topics in our community.” 

Corporate jobs

One of the BBC’s chief news presenters, Myrie has reported from around the world during a career that began in 1987. He earns £310,000 per year and recently had to apologise for not declaring outside earnings of at least £65,000 in one year from corporate events. 

He received more than £10,000 to speak at Dutch bank ING’s “Views from the Top” dinner, held at the Gherkin skyscraper in the City of London. Despite criticism, ING invests billions of dollars in companies involved in illegal Israeli settlements. 

Earlier this year, Myrie was paid up to £10,000 by asset manager Quilter Cheviot, which has stakes in RTX (formerly Raytheon Technologies) and BAE Systems, two arms manufacturers with known connections to the Israeli military. 

The Quilter Cheviot speaking engagements were mentioned by one of the students who stood up to challenge Myrie, who said he had “no response whatsoever”. 

UAL Students for Justice in Palestine told MEE that “Myrie’s articles and broadcasts, especially those since October 2023, have contributed to the mainstream media’s widespread normalisation of Israel’s genocidal campaign”.

They pointed to a positive profile of an Israeli fighter “following in his father’s footsteps” written last October by Myrie, saying it served to “garner sympathy for Israeli army soldiers while offering no perspective from Palestinians, contributing to the dehumanisation that allows Israel’s aggression to continue”. 

Myrie was also criticised last week for an unusual piece of editorialising, after he introduced an interview with a senior Hamas leader by saying: “Many will find his comments abhorrent.” 

During the UAL event, Myrie said he was “very happy to discuss my journalism and my reporting on the situation in Gaza”.

“I am very happy to show you my post bag from Israelis slagging me off. Compared to how I’ve been slagged off on my day here visiting the university,” he said. “I’m going to bring in the response of the Israeli lobby. And I’m going to show you what they’re telling me compared to what you’re telling me. And I’ll show you both sides.” 

University divisions over Gaza

When Myrie was appointed chancellor, UAL’s chair of governors David Isaac, who is also the provost of Worcester College, Oxford, hailed the newsreader, saying: “Clive’s distinguished career, passion for the arts, and dedication to conveying powerful narratives and uplifting people through journalism will inspire everyone at UAL.”

But the new chancellor’s comments are the latest to highlight deep divisions across UAL’s six art colleges. Academics seeking to bring over Palestinian artists to speak and perform at university-backed events have previously been told by corporate management that their guests would be subjected to anti-terrorism checks and would have to have their work pre-approved.

The university’s administration has told students protesting the war in Gaza that chants such as “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” could be perceived as “unlawful hate speech” and that police action could be brought against them.

This has been justified by UAL’s adoption of the definition of antisemitism as set out by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).

A UAL spokesperson clarified that the phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is now allowed on campus and was only under consideration at a time when there was a public debate over whether it was lawful.

Staff at colleges across the UAL system told MEE that their “academic freedom” has been trampled on by corporate leadership. 

The pro-Palestine movement at UAL is calling for the university to cut its ties with Lloyds Bank over its “complicity in Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people” and with an art college in Tel Aviv that is working with the Israeli military. 

In June, pro-Palestine staff and students celebrated the resignation of UAL’s vice chancellor James Purnell, a minister in Tony Blair’s government and former chair of Labour Friends for Israel.

Sources at UAL said that they thought Myrie had been “a Purnell appointment”.