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TV station condemned for featuring racist Katie Hopkins in Megan Markle documentary

'Get in the bin!' producers told

Jon Sharman
Friday 06 September 2019 10:09 BST
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Katie Hopkins outside the Old Bailey in July
Katie Hopkins outside the Old Bailey in July (Getty)

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Australian TV producers have been widely condemned for including racist Katie Hopkins in a programme about “how Meghan Markle lost her sparkle”.

The newsmagazine programme 60 Minutes appears to feature the Islamophobic commentator in a sit-down interview as well as canvassing people outside Buckingham Palace.

A trailer for the programme, due to air on Sunday on Australia’s Channel 9, claimed it would reveal “scandal, abuse and bloody lies” within the royal family.

All of the four talking heads previewed in the trailer were white, as was the presenter.

Ms Hopkins has described migrants as “cockroaches” and “feral”, and called for a “final solution” to terrorism. She has called Britain’s capital “Khan’s Londonistan” and claimed that there is “institutionalised discrimination against whites” in the UK.

She has promoted white genocide conspiracy theories and in 2017 tweeted about the Netflix series Dear White People, writing: “Dear black people. If your lives matter why do you stab and shoot each other so much.”

And in July this year she tweeted: “Call me what you wish. Islamophobe. Bigot. Racist. Vile. It matters not. What matters is the fight back for our Christian culture we desperately need to defend.”

Twitter users who responded to 60 Minutes’ post about the trailer were scathing about its apparent direction.

60 Minutes posted a preview of the programme on Twitter
60 Minutes posted a preview of the programme on Twitter

“60 Minutes has reduced itself to a gossip column. Get in the bin!” wrote one, while another added: “Shame on you for airing this trash. Great Britain is fortunate to have this intelligent, compassionate, beautiful woman in the royal family. In her, Prince Harry has found happiness.”

Actress Jameela Jamil tweeted: “If you have to bring in Katie Hopkins, you’re scraping the absolute bottom of the barrel, So immediately we can dismiss this trash “entertainment” as *any* form of “journalism.” Are there any POC in this doc other than the woman being bullied?”

Another user said: “It’s really awesome how you guys are giving a known white nationalist a platform from which to baselessly bash a black princess.”

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