{"id":8603,"date":"2016-10-03T07:54:45","date_gmt":"2016-10-03T01:54:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/bbc-radio-4-presenter-hits-out-at-broadcaster-after-being-fired\/"},"modified":"2016-10-03T13:05:24","modified_gmt":"2016-10-03T07:05:24","slug":"bbc-radio-4-presenter-hits-out-at-broadcaster-after-being-fired","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/bbc-radio-4-presenter-hits-out-at-broadcaster-after-being-fired\/","title":{"rendered":"BBC Radio 4 presenter hits out at broadcaster after being fired"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

A presenter on BBC Radio 4\u2032s The Now Show has attacked the broadcaster for firing him over claims they wanted \u201cmore women and diversity\u201d.<\/p>\n

Jon Holmes, who is also a travel writer for the Sunday Times, asserts he was sacked from the show this week after 18 years for being a \u201cwhite man\u201d in a column published by the Mail on Sunday.<\/p>\n

The Now Show \u2013 which airs on Friday nights \u2013 satirises the week\u2019s news and is presented by Hugh Dennis and Steve Punt but regularly features Holmes.<\/p>\n

He announced he had been sacked on Twitter on Monday.<\/p>\n

\n

Sad to announce I've been axed from @BBCNowShow as 'we want to recast with more women and diversity' Tsk. And I didn't even punch a producer<\/p>\n

\u2014 Jon Holmes (@jonholmes1) September 26, 2016<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In the article Holmes claims he received a phone call this week in which he was told he would not be invited back for the next series of The Now Show which airs in November.<\/p>\n

However on Saturday night, referring to the front page of the Mail on Sunday, Holmes dismissed newspaper\u2019s headline which read: \u201cBBC sacked me for being a white man.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Well, let's just clear this up. That headline isn't a quote, or what I've said at all.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Jon Holmes (@jonholmes1) October 1, 2016<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In his article in the same newspaper he writes: \u201cShould I, as a white man (through no fault of my own), be fired from my job because I am a white man? Arguably, yes. You may well think I\u2019m crap on The Now Show, and that\u2019s fine, but to be told it\u2019s because I\u2019m the wrong sex and colour? I\u2019m just not sure that\u2019s helpful to anyone\u2019s cause.\u201d<\/p>\n

Holmes adds he \u201cunderstands and agrees with all things BAME [Black Asian and minority ethnic]\u201d and said speaking out about losing his job was not \u201csour grapes\u201d.<\/p>\n

The comic said after announcing the news on Twitter he was \u201ccontacted privately (quietly and off the record, because people are terrified of saying the wrong thing) by many presenters, actors and even agents who are now being told, and I quote: \u2018We love your client. He\u2019s perfect for the role. But we\u2019re not allowed to even invite him in for a meeting because we\u2019ve been told to cast someone Asian\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Now Show is presented by former Outnumbered star Hugh Dennis (PA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Holmes adds: \u201cI love the BBC and everyone I\u2019ve ever met and worked with \u00e2\u0080\u0093 whatever their sex, creed or colour \u00e2\u0080\u0093 is doing the best they can and just trying to get on and do the right thing. But even they are all privately saying it\u2019s all got a bit out of hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

The broadcaster dismissed claims he was sacked because of diversity, adding they wanted to give new comics a chance after Holmes\u2019 18-year stint on the show.<\/p>\n

A BBC spokeswoman said: \u201cWhile the Government\u2019s new charter for the BBC does set us diversity targets, we always hire presenters on merit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d like to thank both Jon Holmes and Mitch Benn for their contributions, but \u2013 as we explained almost a week ago when the story first appeared in newspapers \u2013 our comedy shows are constantly evolving and it was simply time to create opportunities for new regulars when The Now Show returns this autumn.\u201d<\/p>\n

In April the BBC launched a diversity promise, aiming to have \u201ca workforce at least as diverse, if not more so, than any other in the industry\u201d by 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A presenter on BBC Radio 4\u2032s The Now Show has attacked the broadcaster for firing him over claims they wanted \u201cmore women and diversity\u201d. Jon Holmes, who is also a travel writer for the Sunday Times, asserts he was sacked from the show this week after 18 years for being a \u201cwhite man\u201d in a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8604,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8603"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}