Clive Myrie was pulled from BBC's 10 o'clock News at the last minute, over remarks he made about Boris Johnson, while hosting Have I Got News For You.
Highly regarded broadcaster Clive, who received widespread praise from viewers last year for his frontline coverage of the war in Ukraine, fronted the latest episode of the long-running BBC comedy panel show when a video of former PM Johnson was shown. As footage of Johnson out jogging with his dog DFilyn appeared on screen, Clive quipped: "After being found by the House of Commons committee to have lied repeatedly, Boris Johnson takes the opportunity to deny that he’s ever been jogging or has a dog,"
IT is being reported that the BBC's content chief, Charlotte Moore, became concerned about accusations of anti-Tory bias arising from his role on HAve I Got News for You, which went out on BBC One right before Friday's late night news bulletin. A source told The Times: "Speaking to The Times, an insider said: "There wasn’t a specific joke which triggered the request.. It was more to do with concerns that Clive was doing two very different types of programme within an hour of each other. There was possibly a bit of over-caution, which felt a bit over the top to most people in news.”
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The Times is also claiming that a senior BBC executive said it 'didn't feel right' that Clive would be presenting the news, right after making the jibes about Johnson.
The BBC has come under fire online for its decision to pull Clive from his high profile role, with one critic tweeting: "Sorry to see this @CliveMyrieBBC. What a narrow minded decision by @BBCNews. Has the world gone mad or has PC taken over." Echoing those sewnt5iomebnts, a second posted: "Such a ridiculous thing - invite Clive Myrie to host a satirical news show, then punish him for being satirical on that very show."
However, some backed the BBC over the move, with one viewer responding: "Clive Myrie has always shown his bias, even when he's an "impartial" news reader. He's not a "celeb" he's supposed to report the news!"
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