Remember when Alan Sugar sent that xenophobic tweet about Gisela Stuart during the referendum? He’s gone one worse this morning:
The next series of the Apprentice was due to air on the BBC this autumn. Was…
UPDATE: And like that, it was gone…
Just been reading the reaction to my funny tweet about the guy on the beach in Marbella . Seems it has been interpreted in the wrong way as offensive by a few people . Frankly I cant see that I think it’s funny. But I will pull it down if you insist .
— Lord Sugar (@Lord_Sugar) June 20, 2018
UPDATE II: BBC to Sugar: you’re not fired!
Lord Sugar has acknowledged this was a seriously misjudged tweet, and he’s in no doubt about our view on this. It’s right he’s apologised unreservedly.
— BBC Press Office (@bbcpress) June 20, 2018
Alan Sugar on Jeremy Corbyn:
“It’s clear you alluded to students refunds to get votes from young impressionable people. You are a cheat and should resign.”
The BBC stars who are #NotOnTheList either need to sack their agents or, more likely, are dodging scrutiny by being paid via production companies. Many Beeb programmes are produced by third party companies, which means their stars still ultimately receive licence fee payer cash while keeping their names off the rich list. Neither Ian Hislop nor Paul Merton are on there because Have I Got News For You is made by Hat Trick Productions – they are thought to receive five figures per episode. Not forgetting Hislop’s documentaries which all go towards the upkeep of the comb-dodger’s £5 million Chelsea home. The Apprentice is made by United Artists so Alan Sugar avoids being named. Graham Norton’s salary was disclosed as £900,000 yesterday – the true figure is much higher because The Graham Norton Show is made by So Television. Mary Berry and Sue Perkins from Bake Off weren’t on the list, neither was David Attenborough because he is paid via BBC Worldwide, nor was Paxo because University Challenge is made by Granada. All these companies receive vast sums from the licence fee payer, with which they pay their stars millions, yet their names are #NotOnTheList…
One of the more interesting is Screenwipe’s Charlie Brooker. His programme is made by Zeppotron, a production company co-founded by Brooker which is part of Endemol. Charlie is a director of four companies – House of Tomorrow Drama Ltd, House of Tomorrow Holdings Ltd, Black Mirror Drama Ltd and Black Mirror Drama (S4) Ltd. Zeppotron and these four companies are all registered at the London office of Endemol Shine, which is headquartered in Holland and co-owned by Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox. Puts Charlie’s Murdoch mocking and Sun-bashing into perspective.
Guido was most shocked to see Emily Maitlis #NotOnTheList. Emily is one of the Beeb’s top stars, presenting Newsnight and the news – she is rightly unimpressed and quipped at an tech industry event last night: “You’re an industry doing so well, soon you’ll be able to afford a BBC man”. Her agent tweeted:
Beyond madness and being dealt with.
— alex armitage (@Alarmingtage) July 19, 2017
If Maitlis isn’t on the list and doesn’t get paid through a production company, that means the Beeb think she’s worth less than half an Evan Davis…
Leave message: Government would axe fuel VAT post-Brexit.
Remain message: Lord Sugar says Remain’s better for business.
Cut through: Fuel VAT cut post-Brexit.
Leave social media count: 434,209 likes, 48,062 followers.
Remain social media count: 440,282 likes, 31,838 followers.
Odds: Remain 1/3, Leave 3/1
Latest poll: Remain 44%, Leave 47% (ICM, phone). Poll of Polls is now Remain 52%, Leave 49%.
Lord Sugar is only a recent convert to Remain. Turns out it’s very recent, this is what he said just six months ago:
“I don’t want to have Brussels telling me about, you know, some more stupid rules and regulations that I have got to adhere to. We should make our own rules up as far as that’s concerned.”
Sure that cushy government job couldn’t have anything to do withhis EU-turn…
