Jeremy Vine has agreed a financial settlement with a Twitter user who falsely identified him as the BBC presenter at the centre of the Huw Edwards furore.
27.06.2023 - 09:15 / deadline.com
The BBC’s highest-paid presenter Gary Lineker was suspended and swiftly reinstated in March during an impartiality meltdown that rocked the British broadcaster.
Deadline has obtained documents under a Freedom of Information Act request that provide a behind-the-scenes glimpse at how Director General Tim Davie responded to the crisis.
Diary extracts and emails reveal that Davie was in contact with a senior government official on the day of Lineker’s suspension. The papers also reveal the frantic weekend meetings that took place to reinstate Lineker after his suspension wreaked havoc on the BBC’s Premier League coverage.
Scroll on for the timeline, which brings together the documents obtained by Deadline, as well as details from sources, and information already in the public domain.
March 7, TuesdayAt 2PM, Tim Davie emerged from a lunch with Rebekah Brooks, the woman who runs Rupert Murdoch’s media empire in the UK, when Gary Lineker posted a single tweet that would spark a days-long crisis.
While Davie was dining, Lineker was fulminating over the UK government’s pledge to “stop the boats,” a policy aimed at deterring immigrants from seeking asylum by sea. Lineker, who has welcomed refugees into his home, tweeted: “This is just an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s.”
It almost instantly stoked controversy and raised questions about whether the BBC should take action against Lineker, given Davie had made impartiality his top priority after becoming Director General in 2020.
March 8, WednesdayRight-wing newspaper The Daily Mail splashes on the Lineker tweet under the headline: ‘Lineker faces BBC rebuke for likening small
Jeremy Vine has agreed a financial settlement with a Twitter user who falsely identified him as the BBC presenter at the centre of the Huw Edwards furore.
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read a statement from the public British broadcaster. “New allegations were put to us on Thursday of a different nature and in addition to our own enquiries we have also been in touch with external authorities, in line with our protocols.”Neither the BBC nor The Sun are disclosing the accused presenter’s name.
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