Gary Lineker on the brink of BBC exit after Zionism ‘rat’ post

Gary Lineker on the brink of BBC exit after Zionism ‘rat’ post



Posted by theipaper

10 comments

  1. [Gary Lineker](https://inews.co.uk/topic/gary-lineker?srsltid=AfmBOoopFXkqYXAHGVHcJgqLFTn5Sl4iIaqFhQnbzLVkKQeQuUPzYkOj&ico=in-line_link) is on the brink of exiting the [BBC](https://inews.co.uk/topic/bbc?srsltid=AfmBOoqLSAOPJRouAdRyAGsT2eEb5Pr-6R5JnLg6j-2blRtY3kfPPLD3&ico=in-line_link) after facing days of pressure over a social media post, *The i Paper* understands.

    Lineker is facing the end of his 26-year relationship with the BBC prematurely over the post, which was [considered to be an antisemitic slur](https://inews.co.uk/news/media/why-bbc-wont-fire-lineker-despite-his-most-controversial-instagram-post-3692752?ico=in-line_link).

    The position of the BBC’s highest-paid presenter, earning £1.35m, is said to have become untenable after the latest in a series of controversies, insiders say.

    The terms of any exit have not yet been confirmed, and both Lineker and BBC bosses have stepped back from the brink on previous occasions, but tensions are thought to be coming to a head.

    He was set to present the FA Cup Final on Saturday and his final *Match of the Day* next weekend.

    And he had been due to return to front live FA Cup games and coverage of next summer’s World Cup in North America, under a year-long contract extension.

    *The i Paper* has approached Lineker’s representative for comment.

    Lineker’s refusal to rein in his social media activity – which briefly forced him off air in 2023 when he criticised the Tory government’s immigration policy – has angered BBC colleagues.

    The row over his latest social media post about Zionism, that included an illustration of a rat, looks set to be the final straw in his increasingly fraught relationship with the BBC.

    Rats, linked to disease and dirt, have been used to represent Jews in antisemitic propaganda throughout history, including by the Nazis in 1930s Germany.

    BBC boss Tim Davie expressed his frustration over the post, telling a conference in Salford that such social media “mistakes” cause the BBC reputational damage. He said everyone who worked for the BBC must follow its impartiality rules.

  3. He shared a post that contained a single emoji that he didn’t realise had anti-Semitic connotations.

    As soon as this was pointed out he deleted it and apologised unreservedly.

    But apparently that’s not enough.

  4. They’ve been trying to get rid of him for years, this is the excuse, he was lacking judgement to post this, but it’s the end result they require and any means necessary to get there, he carries the wrong message and he is too high a profile to succeed.

  6. Speak out against Israel and lose your career and become blacklisted. Me even saying that will be labeled anti Semitic. To see the west cower in the face of ‘these’ lobbyist groups is pathetic.

  7. What a joke. What kind of world do we live in where a person can’t criticise a genocidal state. Pathetic. This will hopefully cause more problems for the BBC than solve

  8. What kind of world we living in where we can’t criticise a genocidal state

  9. People are more bothered my an emoji than thousands of children bombed and starved to death

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