Jewish employees of News UK were left “deeply upset” last year after Piers Morgan’s Talk TV show gave a platform to “extreme antisemitism”.
Staff accused showrunnes of giving guests a platform to spout “dangerous and shameful” rhetoric in interviews.
In WhatsApp messages seen by the JC, members of the News UK Jewish Network (a company-recognised group for Jewish staff) voiced their concerns regarding an appearance by American poker player and influencer Dan Bilzerian on Piers Morgan Uncensored in November.
Bilzerian has a history of making antisemitic remarks, including blaming “the Jews” for the assassination of John F Kennedy and the Holodomor famine in the Soviet Union.
He has also consistently denied the Holocaust, saying on Morgan’s show that he would “bet [his] entire net worth” that fewer than six million Jews were killed during the Holocaust.
Morgan, who recently left News UK, had also interviewed Pink Floyd star Roger Waters after the bassist was investigated for wearing an allegedly “Nazi-style” uniform during a gig in Germany, despite his claims that the costume was a “statement in opposition to fascism” and that suggestions otherwise were “disingenuous and politically motivated”.
During his appearance, Waters claimed that Jews have no historical connection to the land of Israel and accused Israeli authorities of exaggerating the events of the October 7 2023 Hamas attack through “lies”.
In response to the Bilzerian interview, one News employee wrote: “[It] feels so dangerous and shameful for part of the business to be chasing clicks like this from the most horrendous antisemitism and Holocaust denial.
"And to not have a Holocaust expert on at the same time to challenge him is unforgivable.”
Staff members shared their concerns about an interview with Holocaust denier Dan Bilzerian (Picture: WhatsApp)[Missing Credit]
Others labelled the interview "deeply upsetting" (Picture: WhatsApp)[Missing Credit]
Another added that it was “deeply upsetting” that Bilzerian was given a platform to “spout his views”.
They went on: “The [social media] comments agreeing with him make it even worse.”
Piers Morgan Uncensored has previously held interviews with pro-Israel guests and invited pro-Israel speakers on to challenge other guests.
Morgan has now left News UK to take ownership of the show himself after the contract he signed in 2021 expired, instead entering into a four-year revenue sharing agreement with his former employer.
In reply to the messages, a senior staff member said that they would pass the group’s concerns on to the Piers Morgan Uncensored team.
The JC has learned that the Jewish Network is yet to receive an official response to the complaints, but were told that Morgan addressed the issue of platforming on his show.
The presenter broadcast a monologue segment the day after he interviewed Bilzerian.
He claimed to have robustly challenged the guest’s views but also justified the decision to have him on in terms of promoting free speech.
A 33-minute clip of the interview remains freely available on the Piers Morgan Uncensored YouTube channel and has accrued 2.4 million views as of this week.
The JC has contacted News UK and Piers Morgan Uncensored for comment.
