Boy George and Patrick Kielty clashed in an anti-Semitism row on Friday night after the Irish TV host linked the Golders Green attacks to the “horrors in Gaza”.
The pop star had been in Golders Green on the day of the attack, which saw two Jewish men allegedly stabbed by a Somali-born British national.
Speaking on RTE’s Late Late Show, Boy George said: “For me personally, growing up I have had so many beautiful Jewish friends and I still have. Being asked to turn against the whole race of people is not acceptable to me and I am getting a lot of abuse for it but I don't really care.”
Mr Kielty responded: “And it’s that idea that you’ve got attacks on the Jewish community and the backdrop of that obviously is the horrors in Gaza and this is a complex thing.
“I know you have always spoken out that violence is never the answer.”
Boy George replied: “Well you don’t blame a whole nation for what’s going on in America or in Russia or anywhere else
“I think it’s really about your relationships with people, I don’t choose my friends based on their race or their sexuality or their age, I choose people because I like them.”
The pop star then asked the audience if they knew any Jewish people and was greeted with silence from the studio audience.
Many have taken to social media to criticise Keilty following the programme’s airing on Friday night.
Among those, awareness group Holocaust Awareness Ireland, said on social media that the host showed “a singular lack of empathy when speaking about Jews” and asked if he had been “corrupted” by what it described as “the RTE hive mind where the narrative around the issue of Israel and Jews is disturbingly unbalanced.”
The national broadcaster RTE issued a statement to defend the host.
The statement read: “As someone who lost his father to a terrorist attack, Patrick has always been empathic, measured and sensitive on such matters, which he was again on this particular show.
“Shortly after the 7 October attacks in [Israel in] 2023, Patrick signed off the Late Late Show with an expression of sympathy for the victims and a hope for peace.
“On Friday’s show Patrick allowed his guest to share his experience and views in a sensitive and editorially appropriate manner."
Shloime Rand and Moshe Shine were stabbed in Golders Green on Wednesday last week. A 45-year-old Somali-born British national Essa Suleiman has since been arrested on three charges of attempted murder.
The victims have been discharged from the hospital after sustaining serious injuries.
Patrick Kielty’s future at the Irish broadcaster has been in question for a number of days, even prior to his clash with Boy George.
He recently split with wife Cat Deeley, with Irish media reporting that the distance between the former couple will see Kielty leave his gig in Ireland to be closer to his family in London.
