Senna and Diego Maradona filmmaker Asif Kapadia has had his appointment as a patron of UK documentary charity The Grierson Trust revoked following criticism of his posts on social media.
In a statement, a Trust spokesperson said: “Since the Grierson Trust announced that Asif Kapadia had been appointed as one of our patrons, some social media posts shared by him have been drawn to our attention which are anti-Semitic.
“As a result, at an 8am board meeting this morning, we took the decision to rescind his role as patron of the Trust. When we made the decision to appoint Mr Kapadia, the board was not aware of these posts, some of which appear to be no longer available, and we are sorry that our due diligence was not thorough enough.”
Kapadia’s appointment by the documentary charity was announced by Broadcast on Wednesday, alongside Louis Theroux and Dorthy Byrne, the trust’s first new patrons in almost a decade.
A Grierson’s Trustees Award recipient in 2020, Kapadia said he hoped being a patron “will help inspire the next generation of documentary makers”.
However, his appointment sparked criticism from members of the Jewish community, including Fulwell 73’s Leo Pearlman and producer and broadcaster Neil Grant.
Pearlman said Kapadia was an “antisemite extraordinaire”, posting a series of screenshots of Kapadia’s social media comments in a post on LinkedIn.
This included a cartoon depicting Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu eating on a blood-soaked table in Gazan rubble with a dead baby on the table, which is captioned ‘kosher’.
In a lengthy post, Pearlman asked The Grierson Trust and chair Lorraine Heggessey if they had seen Kapadia’s social media posts and referenced the anti-Jewish incident which occurred at last year’s awards, where an individual was vocally anti-Jewish during the reception.
They were banned from the awards and any event organised by the Grierson Trust “in any capacity” for the next 10 years.
Pearlman said: “If you purport in any way to uphold the admirable principals outlined in your statement from last year; abhorrence of racism, need for inclusivity & desire for our industry to be a safe space, then maybe you shouldn’t reward one of the most outspoken antisemites in our industry, with a position previously reserved for the great & the good.”
The Grierson spokesperson added: “The Grierson Trust is deeply committed to promoting both freedom of speech and diversity and inclusion in the documentary industry. Whilst we accept and support that everyone has a legitimate right to express their views on controversial issues, this cannot justify racist statements or behaviour.
“As we have stressed in the past and will continue to uphold, the Trust has a zero-tolerance approach to racism of all kinds.”
Other patrons of the Grierson Trust include David Attenborough, Nick Broomfield, Charlotte Moore, Norma Percy, Kim Longinotto and Grayson Perry.
Speaking of its patron appointments on Wednesday, Heggessey said they had been recognised for their “passion and commitment to creating documentaries of the highest standard which have changed the way we see the world around us.”
This story first appeared on Screen’s sister site Broadcast
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