Millions have seen the viral clip of a BBC News presenter holding up her middle finger to the camera.
Now the full video of the chief BBC News presenter Maryam Moshiri counting down to her viral middle-finger moment has been released.
In the video, Moshiri is shown to count six with a thumbs up, making a rude hand gesture for the number two then pulling a face as she holds up her middle finger.
After the clip went viral, Moshiri said she was sorry she “offended or upset anyone”. “I wasn’t ‘flipping the bird’ at viewers or even a person really. It was a silly joke that was meant for a small number of my mates.”
After the video’s release, Moshiri shared a post on X, formerly Twitter, saying she was pleased the countdown video had been published. “It wasn’t the BBC who released this and it certainly wasn’t me,” she said. “But in a way I think I’m glad this is out there, as it shows I was having a bit of a joke with the crew during the countdown,” she added.
So someone released the full video !
— Maryam Moshiri (@BBCMaryam) December 15, 2023
It wasn’t the BBC who released this and it certainly wasn’t me! But in a way I think I’m glad this is out there, as it shows I WAS having a bit of a joke with the crew during the countdown.
Again, so sorry it went out on air. It was meant… pic.twitter.com/94pATaKP7i
Last week, the Conservative party’s official account took a grab from the viral footage and used it in a post on X captioned: “Labour when you ask for their plans to tackle illegal migration.”
The post caused a row within the party, with a number of senior MPs demanding its removal. The tweet appears to have gone down badly with voters, too, with a poll by More in Common finding that 68% of the public considered it to be “inappropriate”.
