World Jewish News

Sunday Times Editor apologises for publishing anti-Semitic column

“The comments in a column by Kevin Myers in today’s Irish edition of The Sunday Times were unacceptable and should not have been published. It has been taken down and we sincerely apologise for the remarks and the error of judgement that let to publication,’’ wrote Martin Ivens, editor of The Sunday Times in reference to an ant-Semitic column on BBC women's pay.

The column, headlined “Sorry, ladies - equal pay has to be earned”, which highlighted BBC Jewish presenters Claudia Winkleman and Vanessa Feltz, suggested that "Jews are not generally noted for their insistence on selling their talent for the lowest possible price".

Myers wrote: "I note that two of the best-paid women presenters in the BBC, Claudia Winkleman and Vanessa Feltz, with whose no doubt sterling work I am tragically unacquainted, are Jewish. Good for them. Jews are not generally noted for their insistence on selling their talent for the lowest possible price, which is the most useful measure there is of inveterate lost-with-all-hands stupidity. I wonder who are their agents?

"If they are same ones that negotiated the pay for the women on the lower scales, then maybe the latter have found their true value in the marketplace."

In response, Vanessa Feltz said: "I am absolutely horrified by this".

The president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Jonathan Arkush, called the column ‘’disgraceful" and said it promoted "classic anti-Semitic tropes about Jews and money. How this made it through the editing process is a matter which the Sunday Times needs to investigate urgently. We expect answers."

The Sunday Times Ireland editor Frank Fitzgibbon acknowledged that the comments had caused "considerable distress.’’ ‘’This paper abhors anti-Semitism," he added.

He confirmed that the column has been removed from the paper’s website.

EJP