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Rabat – BBC presenter Maryam Moshiri has apologized for performing an obscene gesture on air, stating that she was joking with her gallery crew and did not realize she was live.
A clip of the incident went viral on Wednesday, showing a countdown to the broadcast with Moshiri at the anchor desk. The presenter then flips the middle finger at the camera as the countdown winds down, before delivering the first headline about former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Moshiri took to X on Thursday to explain what happened, saying that she “was joking around a bit with the team in the gallery” by counting down with her fingers along with the broadcast countdown.
Hey everyone , yesterday just before the top of the hour I was joking around a bit with the team in the gallery.
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…
— Maryam Moshiri (@BBCMaryam) December 7, 2023
“When we got to 1 I turned [my] finger around as a joke and did not realise that this would be caught on camera,” she said.
“It was a private joke with the team and I’m so sorry it went out on air! It was not my intention for this to happen and I’m sorry if I offended or upset anyone,” the anchor added. “I wasn’t ‘flipping the bird’ at viewers or even a person really.”
The BBC did not publicly comment on the incident of the ensuing apology.
The picture and video of the initial incident has gone viral, with the country’s Conservative party notably using the picture to make a jab at Labour’s migration policy.
The usage garnered divisive opinions among the conservatives, with some encouraging it, including MPs. On the other hand, other figures condemned the usage of the pictures, with MP Alicia Kearns saying that “it is beneath us.”
