BBC News reader Maryam Moshiri explained how that unfortunate middle finger happened and it made people love it even more
You’ll already know by now the unfortunate BBC News moment when presenter Maryam Moshiri was caught on camera giving the middle finger.
It’s gone wildly viral today and is currently approaching the level officially known as ‘Simon McCoy’s pad of A4 paper’.
Been a while since a middle finger gesture made it on to BBC News… pic.twitter.com/eS5hOJ0PYY
— Clean Feed @ The TV Room (@cleanfeed_ttvr) December 6, 2023
Now Maryam – @BBCMaryam over on Twitter – has given her side of the story and we like her even more.
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
‘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 we got to 1 I turned finger around as a joke and did not realise that this would be caught on camera.
‘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. I wasn’t ‘ flipping the bird’ at viewers or even a person really.
‘It was a silly joke that was meant for a small number of my mates.’
And we’re with these people. Every single one of them.
I thought it was funny. Just a bit of messing about in these dark times. People need to grow up and get over themselves.
— Moose Allain Ꙭ (@MooseAllain) December 7, 2023
The BBC can double my licence fee if they keep this woman on air. I’ll happily pay it. https://t.co/VgpGxxAcCi
— Marc “December” Burrows (@20thcenturymarc) December 7, 2023
Everyone messes around at work sometimes.
— Danny Wallace (@dannywallace) December 7, 2023
We’ve all done it Maryam… (well, I have anyway). Thanks for giving us a good laugh. https://t.co/wbLKjhdk9q
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) December 7, 2023
It was the best news I’ve seen all year and thank you for doing it and have a follow x
— Sooz Kempner (@SoozUK) December 7, 2023
Maryam is a great presenter and doesn’t take life too seriously. Studios can be tense places, and a little levity sometimes helps. Obvs this getting out on air wasn’t great – but hey, blooper programmes need content! https://t.co/9zlIjXAbxW
— Theo Leggett (@Theothebald) December 7, 2023
Don’t worry about it! Clear you were only having a moment of levity with crew.
— Jemma Forte (@jemmaforte) December 7, 2023
It was absolutely brilliant and very funny. Clearly an inside joke and a welcome bit of relief considering all that’s going on right now.
— Jayne Sharp (@Jaynesharp) December 7, 2023
Let humans be humans! Was a great laugh
— James Bardolph (@jamesbardolph) December 7, 2023
And finally, over to Maryam’s colleague who was in the gallery when it happened …
I was the gallery producer when this happened. We were all counting the numbers, looking forward to a brilliant show. A bit of fun that should have been private but regrettably it went out and someone’s found the need to amplify it. Maryam, who is one of the best, has apologised. https://t.co/XOOfpFhKw9
— Robert Coxwell (@RTC_writes) December 7, 2023
Source @BBCMaryam
