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Presenter Moshiri during her faux pas
Photograph:
BBC / YouTube
A BBC news anchor has apologised for briefly showing a middle finger in front of the camera. "It was a private joke with the team and I'm sorry that it went on the air," Maryam Moshiri said on Thursday on the short message service X. It was never their intention for something like this to happen.
Several media outlets reported on the faux pas and published a video. In one clip, the presenter can be seen briefly holding her middle finger up to the camera, quickly taking it down and saying: "Live from London – this is BBC news". She then reported on former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has to answer to a commission for his policy in the corona pandemic.
In the statement at X, Moshiri spoke of a stupid joke. While the director counted down the countdown from ten, she pretended to count down as well. When she got to number one, she turned her finger over and didn't notice that it was in the picture. "I'm sorry if I offended or upset anyone."
hpi/dpa