Woman's Hour: What happened this morning?

[NonCisWoman]

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9117995/Actress-refuses-appear-Womans-Hour-accusing-host-Emma-Barnett-degrading-comments.html

An actress refused to appear on Woman's Hour this morning after accusing host Emma Barnett of making 'degrading and vile' comments about her.

Kelechi Okafor was set to talk on the BBC Radio 4 show to discuss the #MeToo movement with new presenter Emma Barnett.

But as the programme was live on air, the Nigerian-British actress revealed she had come off the show, writing: 'Because what I've just had to witness is absolutely degrading and vile.'

Posting a video to Instagram, she said: 'I won't be going on Woman's Hour now. The host didn't realise her mic was on as she was talking s* about me to the producers.'

@NonCisWoman

EVAW have backed up KO's story, and they're very reputable.

They have been as vague as KO about what was said. They haven't confirmed expletives were used.

I have to say having read the antisemitic comments by KO and seen what she presumably thinks is a fun twitter handle of "Machine gun Kele" and "@kelechnekoff" I'm not warming to her.

@Newyearnewrule

Are there any non-white women contributing to this discussion on this thread? What a shame. It would be great to hear a diversity of voices on this discussion.

What are you trying to say here? Do you think there should also be some Jewish women, sex workers and radio show producers on this thread? You know, to provide full balance.

I really want to hear what the “degrading and vile” comments were, and what exactly the “violence” was. Agree that WH dropped a bollock by letting a guest hear the pre programme chat, but it’s hardly some vast conspiracy to bully KO- how can you put out an interview programme without discussing the proposed content?

It might be a side issue, but I’ve heard Lionel Shriver talk at some length (on Triggernometry) about her position on racism and BLM, and she’s very articulate. There’s only anything controversial about what she says if you refuse to make any distinction between “not being racist” and “being anti-racist” and fully supporting the aims of the BLM movement in operationalising critical race theory (parts of which are explicitly Marxist and require the dismantling of much of the apparatus of state like defunding the police- though to be fair, there are multiple groups claiming to be the “real” BLM with varying degrees of revolutionary zeal ). She explains her thinking on that podcast and Id heartily recommend a listen before insisiting she’s a hopeless racist.

I find it frightening that those posters seeking to put the blame on EB, LS or WH seem to have no concerns about KO's publicly expressed antisemitism.
And, when I say that, I mean it literally. We have reached the situation where , if you belong to a certain group, you are so deeply oppressed that it is wrong to criticise you. For anything.

@Newyearnewrule

Are there any non-white women contributing to this discussion on this thread? What a shame. It would be great to hear a diversity of voices on this discussion.

There are lots of “non-white” (awful term) women on FWR. I’m not sure why you would assume that we are all white. Do you think that people have views that match their skin colour? If so, I’m sorry to disappoint; I don’t think KO comes out of this well at all.

in some people's minds, quite clearly.

Are there any non-white women contributing to this discussion on this thread? What a shame. It would be great to hear a diversity of voices on this discussion.
antisemitism is antisemitism. Is it relevant whose mouth it comes out of?

I love EVAW but they weren't on the zoom call. They did not hear anything.

I agree with you sophocles. I also find it interesting how many posters have appeared on this thread to condemn Barnett whose names I don't recognise.

Anti semitism is alive and well in the U.K., particularly on the left.

@FreiasBathtub

I'm really shocked by those comments in the Jewish Chronicle report. Really shocked. I cannot understand the cognitive dissonance involved in thinking that it's ok to associate one entire race with a particular undesirable type of behaviour WHILE AT THE SAME TIME calling out other people for doing the exact same thing in relation to another race???

Indeed. Anti-semitism IS racism.

@TheGreatSloth

I can’t understand why on earth WH would give airtime to someone who’s made such openly anti Semitic comments. It’s shocking.

It’s also shocking, though, if the WH researchers are so shoddy that they genuinely weren’t aware of the anti semitism until 2 minutes before the show. And that they left on a mic.

So - possibly anti-Semitic; definitely inept. BBC on top form. Why does anyone listen to WH again?

This kind of sums it up.

To me a key part of this is the comment by Signalbox:

I suppose it will all depend on what definition of racism you are using.
The newish definition that we are all supposed to unquestionably go along with requires prejudice combined with social and institutional power which means that whilst KO can be prejudiced she cannot be racist.

This means that racial prejudice and abuse aren't racist so long as the prejudice and abuse aren't backed up with oppressive power.

I find it frightening that those posters seeking to put the blame on EB, LS or WH seem to have no concerns about KO's publicly expressed antisemitism.

I also agree with this. I started reading this thread assuming that KO had made a slightly insensitive comment about Jewish people years ago that she'd later apologised for and it was now being dredged up to attack her. This kind of stuff happens all the time and I think it's pointless and tiring. But the reality couldn't be further from the truth. Not only has she referred to "fat Jewish managers" as Shylocks, she's actually doubled down on it...and people are still trying to defend her!

Someone who makes comments like that has zero credibility as an anti-racism campaigner and zero credibility as a spokesperson for the MeToo campaign. To be honest I don't think they should even be given space on our airwaves.

@Chicchicchicchiclana

"having a programme presented by a pimp's daughter who refers to her dad's 'whores'"

Isn't this a bit inflammatory?

Who said that and what the fuck does it even mean?

@Lllama

The car crash is she was willing to ambush Kelechi on antisemitism allegations with two minutes' notice, but allowed Lionel to wank on about how Black Lives Matter sets racism back completely unchallenged.

What does Black Lives Matter sets racism back completely unchallenged...?

I really cannot make sense of that.

Someone on this thread said that WhichOne. The comment was deleted. Barnett's father went to prison for running a brothel. For some reason, some people feel that means she should be condemned/banned from our airwaves/something else.

some people feel that means she should be condemned/banned from our airwaves/something else.
some people would rather do anything rather than address KO's antisemitism.

EB (quite rightly) has form for ‘calling people out’ (err hate that term) on antisemitism. Does anyone remember that awful interview Corbyn did with her on WH? It’s not surprising that she’d want to question an interviewee on possible antisemitic remarks made in the past, especially given they were directly related to the subject/person being discussed.

@Chicchicchicchiclana

Yes, I read that one Jamies but sadly it doesn't go any further into what was in those emails. I really want to know now.

Me too.

KO's comments on Jewish people are disgusting and completely unacceptable.

The WH's researchers should have known this before they booked her. Personally, I agree that she probably shouldn't be on Woman's Hour. At least until she apologizes.

However, the WH's producers booked KO to talk about "Me Too". They didn't book her to talk about her thoughts on Jewish people. Therefore, for KO to turn up and be confronted with those comments/ questions was unprofessional of WH.

What I really dislike about this whole thing though is how KO was treated compared to Lionel. Lionel wasn't challenged on her thoughts on BLM, whereas KO was immediately challenged about comments she made years ago. Why was KO treated differently? That's what I want to know.

I agree that nobody covers themselves in glory here though.

@Clymene

I agree with you sophocles. I also find it interesting how many posters have appeared on this thread to condemn Barnett whose names I don't recognise.

Anti semitism is alive and well in the U.K., particularly on the left.

I agree, Clymene. I'm on another thread elsewhere on ML and the astroturfers are out in force, overwhelming the thread with hyperbolic nonsense they aren't backing up. More and more of them come, repeating the same thing, until the voices of reason give up. Don't know who's behind it or what the aim is, except that it seems designed to spread fear and despondency.

I don't agree with everything Lionel Shriver says, but when I've heard her speaking she has informed and nuanced views that don't easily fit one particular political side (left, right, liberal, progressive) or the other. One of the problems of being an independent thinker like her is that people who don't know how to fit you into easy categories tend to file you under 'arse' (as a PP has) — and that's not fair to Shriver.

I'd just like to make the point again that this was a Zoom call for a live broadcast under the new lockdown conditions, with all (or most) involved probably working remotely after a period back in the studio. My guess is that it wasn't EB's job to let people into the meeting and check who was muted and who wasn't. If I'd just read what KO had said (which was far worse and more explicit than I was expecting) I think KO would have heard a fair few expletives from me — probably aimed at the idiot on the production or research team who had thought she would make a good contributor to the discussion.

Like Sophocles and Clymene, I'm wondering who these people are who are so anxious to diss EB. EB is pretty outspoken and isn't supportive of transgender ideology or wokeness, from all I've seen. Could that possibly be one of the reasons she's being piled on?

I find it far more distasteful that Kelechi Okafor is attempting to manipulate the situation than the fact that someone at WH made a mistake.

Two Labour MPs have publicly expressed support for KO on social media now ( Florence Eshalomi and Chi Onwurah). They've been directed to KO's anti-Semitism but seemingly have no comment to make on that. Appalling.

Just out of curiosity, had anyone here heard of Kelechi Okafor previously?

(I hadn't and tho she is called an actress there are only two things she's been in on IMDB)