Oscar-winning director sorry for ‘antisemitic posts’

The Grierson Trust has removed the Oscar-winning British filmmaker Asif Kapadia as a patron because of social media posts it has deemed “antisemitic”.

Kapadia has apologised, telling BBC News he was “mortified by the hurt and offence” that some of his posts have caused.

In a statement on Friday, the charity said that when Kapadia was appointed as one of its patrons, “the board was not aware of these posts”.

“We are sorry that our due diligence was not thorough enough.”

The Grierson Trust is a charity that works to celebrate documentary and factual filmmaking from Britain and around the world.

Kapadia, who won an Oscar for the Amy Winehouse documentary in 2016, and has also made other high-profile documentaries including on Diego Maradona and Ayrton Senna, was appointed as one of its patrons just two days ago.

In its statement, the charity 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.”

It added that it was “deeply committed” to promoting both freedom of speech and diversity and inclusion within the 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.”

It concluded by adding it has a “zero tolerance approach to racism of all kinds”.

Kapadia appears to have now deleted his X (formerly Twitter) account, although screenshots of the posts have been circulated on social media.

Responding to the decision, Kapadia said: “I’m mortified by the hurt and offence that some of my retweets have caused.

“I now understand that they will be seen by many as antisemitic, or in the case of one even justifying violence. That was not my intention.”

Kapadia said that he felt “passionate” about the fate of Palestinian and Lebanese people.

“But I am equally passionate about all anti-racism and condemn all forms of antisemitism.

“I unequivocally apologise for these ill-judged reposts which were posted in haste with a lack of due consideration.”