The UK national carrier has sparked backlash for the decision to delay showing Jewish comedy series Hapless on flights
December 18, 2023 14:05
ByEliana Jordan, Eliana Jordan
British Airways has apologised after pausing plans to air a Jewish sitcom on its flights in an effort to remain "neutral” on the Israel-Hamas conflict.
In August, the UK national carrier agreed to purchase the first season of the sitcom Hapless and add it to the airline’s repertoire of in-flight entertainment, making it available to watch beginning in December. However, following Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, British Airways paused the £20,000 deal.
Hapless, a comedy series centred on a journalist working for a Jewish newspaper in London, was written and directed by Gary Sinyor, who has repeatedly called British Airlines’ decision “nonsensical” according to The DailyTelegraph.
In a statement, British Airways said: “We understand that the decision to review the content has caused upset and hurt to the Jewish community, and we’re sorry – that was never our intention.
“We’re proud to offer a wide range of entertainment options for our customers to enjoy and constantly review these, taking into consideration current events. The series will appear on our aircraft early next year.”
The award-winning Jewish director was informed of the decision by international media specialist Spafax Media, a company hired by BA to secure licensing rights to movies and television for in-flight entertainment.
According to The Telegraph, an email sent from Spafax to Sinyor on Oct 13 said: “BA Press office have asked us to review content on board and being booked in relation to Israel/Palestine and the conflict currently happening. Their preference is to remain as neutral in these situations as possible.
“As a result we’ve been asked to remove Hapless from the December line-up but are very happy to book this once the conflict dies down.”
Sinyor told The Telegraph that Hapless, which has been shown on Netflix and Amazon Prime, has nothing to do with Israel: “I mean, other than that the Jewish people live in Israel and that Israel is a Jewish state, it has nothing to do with it.
“I think what it shows is a fear of being perceived as being pro-Israel just because it’s got Jewish characters in it.”
“It’s overcautious and if that’s reflected in British society then I think the Jewish community here would be concerned,” he said.
“I think that the Muslim community would be concerned as well if they found that things that had Muslim humour in them, or Muslim content or were being made by Muslim filmmakers were being vetoed in this way, even if it’s a temporary veto.”
According to The Telegraph, Spafax told Sinyor last week that British Airways is “still reluctant to get back to normal programming.”