ITN STAR IS FORCED TO QUIT IN RACE ROW
After Alastair Stewart tweets Shakespeare ‘angry ape’ quote...
ALASTAIR Stewart was forced out of ITN last night after a black Twitter user complained he called him an ‘angry ape’.
The 67-year-old newsreader said he was quitting after ‘a misjudgement which I regret’ on social media. He told friends he was ‘very sad it was ending this way’ after 40 years in the job.
Colleagues leapt to his defence, saying the broadcasting ‘legend’ had been ‘shunted out’. One insisted last night: ‘Alastair is not a racist.’
ITN said Stewart was stepping down following ‘errors of judgement in Alastair’s use of social media which breached ITN’s editorial guidelines’.
It refused to give more details but several sources said it related to a Twitter spat on January 13.
Stewart and Martin Shapland, who is black, were debating the Royal Family’s finances online when the news anchor cited a passage from Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure that included the phrase ‘angry ape’.
Stewart wrote: ‘But man, proud man,
But man, proud man, Dress’d in a little brief authority, Most ignorant of what he’s most assur’d – His glassy essence – like an angry ape, Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven, As makes the angels weep; who, with our spleens, Would all themselves laugh mortal
ISABELLA IN MEASURE FOR MEASURE ‘Take lessons in etiquette’
Dress’d in a little brief authority, Most ignorant of what he’s most assur’d – His glassy essence – like an angry ape, Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven, As makes the angels weep; who, with our spleens, Would all themselves laugh mortal.’
Describing Stewart as a disgrace, Mr Shapland shared the tweet and said: ‘Just an ITV newsreader referring to me as an ape.’
In a statement, the presenter said: ‘It was a misjudgement which I regret, but it’s been a privilege to bring the news to households throughout the UK for the past 40 years.’
In 2018 Stewart used the same quote in an exchange with another Twitter user who was not identifiably black.
Supporters said he appeared to have a habit of using the phrase to make a point about those he felt were claiming to be experts in a certain field. An ITN insider said: ‘He would have thought he was being clever and it was merely an innocent put-down. He is certainly not a racist in any way.
‘Alastair is a hugely popular figure, well liked, kind and something of an institution.
‘It is sad if he has had to go because of this. He accepts the error of judgement, but many believe that, if this was the reason he is going, it was wrong, and he will be the first man ever fired for accurately quoting Shakespeare.’
Stewart, who is married with four children, was the nation’s longest-serving male newsreader. He started on Southern Television in 1976 and joined ITN in 1980. An OBE came in 2006 for services to broadcasting.
Amid an outpouring of support last night, fellow ITV News presenter Mary Nightingale tweeted: ‘ Very sad about the departure of Alastair Stewart. He was a good friend and mentor.’
News anchor Julie Etchingham tweeted: ‘So sad to learn this – we have worked on many big stories together & Al is a trusted friend and guide to many of us.’ Former ITV News boss Richard Frediani called him ‘ a loyal friend, colleague, mentor, guide and much more to many, many journalists’, adding: ‘Simply the best on and off screen. A broadcasting legend.’
A source at ITN, which produces news programmes for ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, said the newsroom was in shock, but that there was a ‘ mixed view’, with some younger staff agreeing with the decision to remove him.
More senior staff shared their theory that it was an excuse to get rid of the veteran, who was on a six-figure salary. One insider said: ‘Officially he quit, but it was a fait accompli – a case of “resign, and do the honourable thing”.’
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Asked about the Twitter row between Stewart and its employee, a spokesman for the ICE said: ‘It is a private matter.’
Michael Jermey, director of news and current affairs at ITV, said: ‘Alastair has been a long-standing, familiar figure to viewers of ITV News, both reporting and presenting with distinction. We wish him the very best for the future.’
ITN chief executive Anna Mallett added: ‘We would like to recognise Alastair’s contribution as one of the UK’s foremost journalists and TV presenters and to thank him for his commitment to delivering high-quality broadcast news over many years.’
Last night the door to Stewart’s home in Hampshire was answered by a young man who said: ‘Yeah he is not going to be saying anything tonight.’
In his long career, Stewart has fronted everything from election coverage to Police, Camera, Action! – a job he lost after crashing his Mercedes into a hedge while three times the drink- drive limit.
Support for Stewart also came from broadcaster Danny Baker, who was sacked last year from BBC Radio 5 Live for likening Prince Harry’s son Archie to a chimp.
Baker retweeted a comment by comedian Rory Bremner who praised Stewart as ‘a good friend’ and called him ‘generous, supportive and kind – one of life’s enthusiasts.