Twitter clash over Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe comments on GB News

Victoria Coren Mitchell has called out Leo Kearse, claiming  jokes he made about Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe were ‘racist’

After the jailed charity worker was freed from Iran – once Britain settle a £400million debt – the comic joked on GB News that Zaghari-Ratcliffe ‘was Iranian for "ungrateful"’ and suggested she had been ‘radicalised’.

After the clip was shared by the channel, Coren Mitchell tweeted: ‘If this stumbly, cackling, racist incompetence is what GB News puts out as a TRAILER… what on earth is the rest of it like?!’

Kearse fired back: ‘According to @VictoriaCoren, my comments about Nazanin Zaghari-Markle are "racist". Could anyone explain this? Even putting myself in the mindset of an overthinking self-loathing white saviour wokeist I can’t stretch to find the racism.’

The Only Connect host responded: ‘Zaghari-Markle? I don’t know whether the irony is greater if you meant that deliberately or if you typed it by mistake! Look, I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings. I’m very pro-comedy and I respect your freedom to say whatever you want. I just thought the programme looked shit’.

In a long series of tweets, Coren Mitchell explained exactly why she thought the remarks were racist, defending a comedian’s right to joke about what they wish – but also to be criticised for it.

I’m not tribal. I disappoint everybody!

You’re a comedian making a joke, I get all of that and respect it. I thought that clip was everything I said it was, and I hated it, and I still do and still do, but ...

— Victoria Coren Mitchell (@VictoriaCoren) March 24, 2022

But Kearse said has was criticising a person not a race and suggested HE was the victim of a hate crime.

‘It should be considered a hate crime to accuse someone of being racist without any evidence or justification. Smearing someone as racist is certainly an easy way to stir up hatred and violence against them ’, he argued online.

‘@VictoriaCoren  instigating a witch-hunt against me, then failing to substantiate the accusations of witchery, and making me read a 5,000 word essay, shows the heights of her privilege and the depths of her character.’

Last month, Coren Mitchell voiced support for Jimmy Carr amid the furore over his joke about the gypsy Holocaust, and she accepted people might call her  hypocrite for calling out Kearse.

She told him via Twitter: ‘I have publicly defended Jeremy Clarkson’s joke about shooting strikers, I’ve written in support of Jim Davidson, I’ve surrounded this whole thing with a constant celebration of your freedom….

‘Comedy is the greatest art form, freedom is vital to it like oxygen to plants, and more power to your elbow in future.’

Coren Mitchell has long been a supporter of  the Zaghari-Ratcliffe, highlighting the efforts of the charity worker’s husband to get his wife home.

Earlier this week we reported how GB News was piloting a panel show with Kearse and fellow comic Diane Spencer – who also featured in the Zaghari-Ratcliffe clip – as team captains and Steve N Allen as host.

Published: 25 Mar 2022