Finally, Gary Lineker is being kicked out of the BBC.
Well, that’s not quite how his people are putting it. They’re saying after a meeting with BBC bosses he’s going by mutual consent – just days after he apologised for a Twitter post he shared which likened Jews to rats.
But it’s clear the Corporation has said “No more.”
And about bloody time too. But just why is the BBC affording Lineker the luxury of a dignified exit? He doesn’t deserve it after the humiliation and embarrassment he’s heaped on it in recent years.
A source said: “It’s a heartbreaking end to an extraordinary broadcasting career.”
No, it isn’t. It’s a totally predictable end for this two-bob political pundit who, because of his vile views, will forever have a shameful stain on a reputation it took him a lifetime to earn.
Time and again Lineker has made a complete fool of himself trying to pretend he’s an informed political commentator when in fact he is an uninformed imbecile whose ignorance has finally done for him.
Because despite the fact he apologised unreservedly for that disgusting retweet last week, his apology fell on deaf ears everywhere. Because this isn’t the first time the football pundit’s antisemitism has been on display. He once referred to the Oct 7 massacre as “the Hamas thing.” He also used Twitter to share a video of a discussion between Owen Jones and Raz Segal, a professor in Holocaust studies, in which the academic argued that Israel was engaged in “genocidal killing.”
He also likened the Tories’ stance on immigration to that of Nazi Germany in the ’30s.
But of course, Lineker’s biggest problem has always been that he’s as thick as mince. He tweets about things he doesn’t understand because he’s hooked on virtue signalling and because he foolishly imagines he’s the political conscience of the country – a hero brave enough to say what others dare not.
The BBC has finally ended Gary Lineker's woke, ignorant, anti-British rampage - Carole Malone
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In his dense head, he actually believes his inane and dim-witted tweets are him speaking truth to power, when the truth is the majority of people just think he’s an idiot who should stick to football.
In one interview he had the audacity to say: “I never back a government. I might criticise Keir Starmer on Israel. But no one knows my politics.”
Which shows exactly how thick he is, because there are people in Machu Picchu who know his politics – that he’s left-wing, hates Brexit, supports Palestine, hates the Tories and isn’t fond of Jews.
And all of those, with the exception of his antipathy to Jews, would have been perfectly acceptable in a democratic country had he not been one of the highest-profile faces on the BBC, which has its charter on the basis it must be scrupulously impartial. But for too long now Lineker has been allowed to make a mockery of that impartiality.
His defence has always been that he’s not an employee of the Corporation and so can tweet what he wants. Tosh! He’s the most high-profile representative of it and earns £1.3M a year for the privilege. Worse, he has shamelessly used the vast platform afforded him by the Corporation to peddle his vile views.
Lineker has been sticking two fingers up at his employers for years with his controversial tweets. And he’s made it look weak and foolish for not sacking him. And having seen its weakness, the arrogant Lineker clearly felt he was invincible.
Well now he knows he’s not. Before his meeting with bosses last week there had been talk he would continue to do some work for the Corporation. But not now. After next Saturday he’s out for good and it’s 100% his own fault. What the hell did he expect? And who cares if he’s heartbroken. He should spare a thought for those Jews whose hearts are broken thanks to his mindless cruelty.
The fact is he should have been dumped years ago but the BBC didn’t have the guts. But it should have done because both it and Lineker have been damaged by his relentless one-man assault on its impartiality and by his arrogance in believing the impartiality rules at the BBC didn’t apply to him.
After he retweeted that hideous “rat” tweet there was, quite rightly, uproar – not least among Jewish employees at the Beeb, many of whom have filed complaints about antisemitism generally, but particularly about the Corporation’s continued employment and defence of Lineker.
When he took the job in 2020, Director General Tim Davie promised to “root out” those breaching the impartiality rules. Well, he didn’t need to look further than Lineker who made a complete fool out of him too, basically saying to him “Sack me if you dare.”
And he didn’t just do it once – he did it time and time again.
OPINION: Gary Lineker's fall from national treasure to national disgrace is finally complete, says Carole Malone.
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And so finally his bosses decided to get rid and Lineker will be gone from the BBC for good by the weekend. He won’t even be allowed to anchor the World Cup, the most prestigious football tournament. How the hell could he when he has made his ugly political biases crystal clear on the world stage?
Gary Lineker is a rich man who, thanks to his podcasts and various business interests, won’t ever have to worry about money again.
But money doesn’t matter to very rich men who are long past the point where they worry about losing it. No, men like Lineker thrive on reputation, on adoration, on being respected, on being thought of as worthy.
Before this he might have expected that after a 26-year career at the BBC he’d have been able to swan gracefully towards retirement with a stellar reputation, as the revered and respected ex-sportsman and TV star.
Not now. Gary Lineker will be remembered as the bloke the BBC had to sack because he just wouldn’t put a lid on his obnoxious views – the man who had compassion for illegal refugees but none for Jews, a man who believed anyone who voted Brexit is thick, and who refers to the Oct 7 massacre as “the Hamas thing.”
What TV company would want to touch a presenter like that – whose vast ego makes him believe he’s bigger and more important than the organisation he works for?
There’s now an indelible stain on Lineker’s character. A few years ago he was seen as the amiable, self-deprecating nice guy who brought us the football on a Saturday night. It was a reputation that would have given him many more years at the BBC had he wanted it. Yet he afforded little or no respect to the Corporation that has been insanely (some would say stupidly) loyal to him, paid him an indecent amount of money and gave him a platform which made him into a star.
And, not to put too fine a point on it, he spat on all that from a great height and made the BBC a laughing stock.
Gary Lineker had the golden ticket but he ripped it into shreds on the altar of his own ego, believing he was the Voice of the People when in fact he was only the voice in his own social media echo chamber.
He should have stuck to football and selling crisps.
