His turn to be fired? Calls for BBC to drop Lord Sugar after ‘racist’ tweet
Apprentice star issues apology after backlash over his Twitter joke about Senegalese football team
LORD SUGAR could be dropped by the BBC and face a parliamentary investigation after he tweeted a “joke” comparing the Senegal football team to beach hawkers in Spain.
The businessman, who has appeared in The Apprentice since 2005, posted a doctored image of the team posing with sunglasses and counterfeit handbags, and wrote: “I recognise some of these guys from the beach in Marbella. Multitasking resourceful chaps.”
Embarrassingly for the BBC, his tweet coincided with the publication of the corporation’s ethnic diversity report, which called for a “substantial culture change” and recommended that managers be given compulsory cultural awareness training.
The cross-bench peer and former chairman of Tottenham Hotspur was initially bullish when Twitter users called his comment offensive, saying: “Frankly, I can’t see that. I think it’s funny.”
Babita Sharma, an anchor for BBC World News, wrote that his tweet was “vile”, to which Lord Sugar replied: “You make me sick.”
But an hour later, having perhaps taken some advice from the BBC, he issued a contrite statement that read: “I misjudged my earlier tweet. It was in no way intended to cause offence, and clearly my attempt at humour has backfired. I have deleted the tweet and am very sorry.”
Dawn Butler, Labour’s shadow secretary for women and equalities, promptly wrote to the House of Lords commissioner for standards and to the BBC, calling for an immediate investigation. She said: “Racism has no place in Parliament or society. Swift action must be taken.”
Twitter was flooded with calls for the BBC to drop Lord Sugar from The Apprentice. The 14th series has already been filmed but it is thought that BBC bosses may wish to dispense with his services after that.
Some BBC staff expressed their disapproval publicly. Osasu Obayiuwana, a BBC World football correspondent, said: “Dear Lord Sugar, I’m afraid no Senegalese or African will see this as funny. What you wrote was hurtful and plays to a racist stereotype. If you really don’t see what’s wrong with what you’ve written, you have a lot to learn still. You should know better.”
Show Racism the Red Card, the educational charity that works with footballers, said: “This lazy, stereotypical and bigoted kind of attitude belongs to a bygone era.”
A BBC spokesman said: “Lord Sugar has acknowledged this was a seriously misjudged tweet, and he’s in no doubt about our view. It’s right he’s apologised unreservedly.” Earlier this year, amid allegations of antisemitism within the Labour Party, Lord Sugar posted another doctored picture showing Jeremy Corbyn sitting in a car beside Adolf Hitler, with the caption: “When you’re pictured at Nuremberg and claim you thought you were going to a car rally”.
He deleted the tweet after it prompted outrage from senior Labour figures, including John Mcdonnell, the shadow chancellor.
The new row overshadowed the launch of the BBC’S report into how it plans to reflect the UK’S ethnic diversity within its workforce. Among the report’s recommendations are that two members of the 15-strong executive committee must be from a black or minority ethnic background by 2020, and that shortlists for all jobs at middlemanagement level and above must include at least one minority candidate. Cultural awareness training should be compulsory for all team managers, in addition to the mandated unconscious bias training.
‘I misjudged my earlier tweet. It was in no way intended to cause offence, and clearly my attempt at humour has backfired’