BAD NEWS

BBC News Anchor ‘So Sorry’ for Flipping the Bird on Air

She said the gesture broadcast to the nation had been intended as a “silly” private joke.

A BBC News TV anchor has apologized after she was seen flashing her middle finger directly into the camera at the beginning of her live news broadcast Wednesday.

Maryam Moshiri, a “chief presenter” with the British national broadcaster, could be clearly seen making the obscene gesture and an accompanying comical facial expression before apparently realizing she was on the air, immediately dropping her hand and adopting a more solemn manner as she launched into a story about former prime minister Boris Johnson apologizing for the suffering the U.K. endured during the COVID pandemic.

The gaffe at the top of the show was seen by plenty of viewers, however, who eagerly shared clips of the sweary slip-up on social media. After the incident went viral, Moshiri offered an explanation and an apology Thursday morning.

“Hey everyone, yesterday just before the top of the hour I was joking around a bit with the team in the gallery,” she posted on X. “I was pretending to count down as the director was counting me down from 10-0.. including the fingers to show the number. So from 10 fingers held up to one. When we got to 1 I turned finger [sic] around as a joke and did not [realize] that this would be caught on camera.”

She added that she was “so sorry” that the “private joke” had been broadcast. “It was not my intention for this to happen and I’m sorry if I offended or upset anyone,” Moshiri wrote. “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.”

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Dan Ladden-HallBreaking News Editor

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