BBC refuse to sack Lord Sugar over ‘racist’ tweet comparing Senegal World Cup team to beach touts
BBC chiefs have REFUSED to sack Lord Sugar after he sparked outrage with a "racist" tweet comparing Senegal's World Cup team to Marbella beach touts.
The peer has starred in The Apprentice since 2005 but fans said his tweet – which compared Senegal football players to touts selling sunglasses and handbags on beaches – was “unforgivable.”
He posted the picture of the West African team on Twitter along with the caption: “I recognise some of these guys from the beach in Marbella. Multi tasking resourceful chaps.”
The tweet featured pictures of sunglasses and handbags in front of the Senegalese footballers, including £90,000-a-week Liverpool star Sadio Mane, who beat Poland 2-1 in their opening World Cup match.
A BBC insider told The Sun: "Lord Sugar understands his mistake and has apologised for it. We've spoken to him and agreed to leave it there. It's safe to say it's going to be business as usual now."
The refusal to fire Lord Sugar comes despite the sacking of two high-profile BBC personalities following racially-charged comments.
In 2002 former Labour MP Robert Kilroy-Silk had his talk show cancelled after using his Sunday Express column to attack Arabs.
Seven years later Margaret Thatcher's daughter Carol was blacklisted by the One Show after referring to black tennis player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga as a "golliwog".
Separately, Russell Brand was suspended in 2008 after leaving obscene voicemails on the phone of Andrew Sachs as part of an on-air prank with Jonathan Ross.
He later resigned after after sending the Fawlty Towers star a written apology.
After the tweet sparked a race storm on social media, Lord Sugar deleted it - but refused to apologise, calling the reaction "OTT" and insisting it was only a "bloody joke".
He told his 5.47 million followers: “Just been reading the reaction to my funny tweet about the guy on the beach in Marbella . Seems it has been interpreted in the wrong way as offensive by a few people . Frankly I cant see that I think it's funny. But I will pull it down if you insist.”
An hour and twenty minutes after posting the initial image, the peer finally apologised for the offending tweet.
He said: "I misjudged me earlier tweet. It was in no way intended to cause offence, and clearly my attempt at humour has backfired. I have deleted the tweet and am very sorry."
One Apprentice fan tweeted: “He should be sacked for these outrageous racist comments. Hopefully @BBC will take action.”
Another copied in the BBC press office and wrote: "There is no excuse for this. Lesser known BBC affiliates would be sacked immediately for this blatant racism."
The Beeb admitted Lord Sugar's tweet was "seriously misjudged".
A spokesman for Jeremy Corbyn said the tweet "was quite clearly racially offensive...and should be investigated by the Parliamentary standards authorities".
Labour MP Dawn Butler said she was "very troubled" over Lord Sugar's tweet and would be referring the matter to the House of Lords Commissioner for Standards.
Writing on social media, the MP wrote: "Very troubled after seeing @Lord_Sugar racist tweet.
"I will be writing to the House of Lords Commissioner for Standards and the @BBC calling for an immediate investigation. Racism has no place in Parliament or society. Swift action must be taken."
She added: "It's time the BBC pulled Lord Sugar into the boardroom and told him 'you're fired'".
The ex-Tottenham Hotspur chairman had faced a barrage of criticism when he posted the picture this morning.
BBC journalist Babita Sharma wrote: "A shocking, vile tweet that you take a screen grab of because you know it will soon be deleted."
Responding to that, Lord Sugar told her: "if it so vile why have you retweeted it . You make me sick."
Actress Kelechi Okafor tweeted: "Just based on their Blackness @Lord_Sugar as inferred the type of lifestyle accessible to the players.
"Imagine if Ireland were playing a match and someone photoshopped a potato field around them. It would be crude and unfunny.
"Lord Sugar is constructing this joke on the premise that all black people look alike, are poor and cannot achieve social mobility. This is why I say that racism is too deeply ingrained within the British psyche for certain people to even realise how damaging and hurtful their 'jokes' are."
Replying on Twitter, the 71-year-old said: "if its so bad why have you re tweeted it ."
Osasu Obayiuwana, the British-Nigerian Associate Editor of New African Magazine and contributor to the BBC’s World Football show, wrote: “Dear @Lord_Sugar, I’m afraid no Senegalese or African will see this as funny. What you wrote was hurtful and plays to a racist stereotype.
"If you really don’t see what’s wrong with what you’ve written, you have a lot to learn still. You should know better!”
Senegal fan Pape Ndiaye, 47, said he was "absolutely" offended by the tweet.
Speaking in Moscow the day after his nation’s victory over Poland, he said: "That's one of the things that's going to keep me from going forward. It doesn't even make sense.
"(Sadio) Mane's making enough money to even pay him - whatever, I'm just being rude.
"But the bottom line is we don't need this kind of thing. I'm not into politics. Politics is not going to change the world - sport, music, entertainment are the kind of thing that can change the world."
The picture Lord Sugar posted dates back to November 15, 2014, when Senegal beat Egypt 1-0 in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match.
Some Twitter followers compared Lord Sugar to Roseanne Barr, the US sitcom star who was dropped by her network after an outcry following a racist tweet.
Others likened the peer to a "mad uncle dropping casual racism at a family dinner."
"This lazy, stereotypical and bigoted kind of attitude belongs to a bygone era," educational charity Show Racism the Red Card told BBC Sport.
"The World Cup is a celebration of different cultures and brings people together from across the globe.
"Lord Sugar's unhelpful and ignorant comments go very much against the spirit of this unique occasion and are probably best kept to himself."
Meanwhile campaigners were urging the public to complain to the House of Lords Commissioner for Standards over the tweet. Lord Sugar joined the House of Lords in 2009.
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The BBC, who broadcast The Apprentice, released a statement, saying: "Lord Sugar has acknowledged this was a seriously misjudged tweet, and he’s in no doubt about our view on this.
"It’s right he’s apologised unreservedly."
His post came as the BBC published a landmark report on career progression for its employees of black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, in a drive for "substantial culture change".
Earlier this year Lord Sugar faced criticism for a tweet that pictured the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, alongside Adolf Hitler. In that incident, he later responded: “It’s a joke, but the angry brigade like to moan.”
