{"id":5343,"date":"2025-05-14T15:25:08","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T15:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/?p=5343"},"modified":"2025-05-14T18:37:56","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T18:37:56","slug":"gary-lineker-apologises-unreservedly-for-antisemitic-instagram-post","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/14\/gary-lineker-apologises-unreservedly-for-antisemitic-instagram-post\/","title":{"rendered":"Gary Lineker \u2018apologises unreservedly\u2019 for Antisemitic Instagram post"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\t\t\"Gary\t<\/div>
Gary Lineker has apologised for an offensive message (Picture: John Walton\/PA Wire)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gary Lineker<\/a> has issued an apology after sharing an Instagram<\/a> story about Zionism<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The image in question was shared from the group Palestine<\/a> Lobby, which read: ‘Zionism explained in two minutes’ and featured an illustration of a rat.<\/p>\n

The image of a rat has been historically antisemitic<\/a> and used to characterise Jewish people, particularly in Nazi Germany in the 1930s. <\/p>\n

Lineker, 64, quickly deleted the image and has now released an apology: ‘On Instagram, I reposted material which I have since learned contained offensive references. I very much regret these references.<\/p>\n

‘I would never knowingly share anything antisemitic. It goes against everything I believe in.<\/p>\n

‘The post was removed as soon as I became aware of the issue.<\/p>\n

‘Whilst I strongly believe in the importance of speaking out on humanitarian issues, including the tragedy unfolding in Gaza<\/a>, I also know that how we do so matters.<\/p>\n

‘I take full responsibility for this mistake. That image does not reflect my views.<\/p>\n

‘It was an error on my part for which I apologise unreservedly.’<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"FILE\t<\/div>
The football pundit received immediate backlash about the post (Picture: REUTERS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lineker’s agent informed the BBC that the presenter immediately deleted the post when he was informed about the image’s symbolism.<\/p>\n

Lineker’s agent said: ‘Whilst viewing and reposting a video, Gary did not notice a rodent emoticon added by the author of the post. <\/p>\n

‘Although if he had, he would not have made any connection. The repost has been removed.’<\/p>\n

The charity Campaign Against Antisemitism has said they are submitting a complaint to the BBC.<\/p>\n

The group shared the screenshot of Lineker’s post with the caption: ‘Nothing to see here. Just Gary Lineker\u2019s Instagram account sharing an anti-Israel video misrepresenting Zionism, complete with a rat emoji.’<\/p>\n

There have been growing calls from Antisemitism groups to have Lineker removed from the BBC.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Mandatory\t<\/div>
Gary has previously been suspended from the BBC (Picture: Ash Knotek\/Shutterstock for AWEu)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lineker was temporarily suspended from the BBC in March 2023 after an impartiality row.<\/p>\n

The row concerned comments he made criticising the then-government\u2019s new asylum policy.<\/p>\n

Lineker was also among 500 other celebrities and high-profile figures who signed an open letter in February urging the BBC, to re-broadcast a documentary, Gaza: How To Survive A War Zone, to BBC iPlayer.<\/p>\n

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typeof(data.detail.carousel) === ‘undefined’ || typeof(data.detail.carousel.el_) === ‘undefined’) {<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\treturn;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t}<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tvar player = data.detail.carousel.el_;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tvar container = player.closest(‘.metro-video-player’);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tvar placeholder = container.querySelector(‘.metro-video-player__up-next-placeholder’);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tcontainer.removeChild(placeholder);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tcontainer.classList.add(‘metro-video-player–related-videos-loaded’);<br \/>\n\t\t\t});<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>On Wednesday, the director general of the BBC, Tim Davie, was asked about the row involving Lineker’s post and if he had broken the BBC rules.<\/p>\n<p>‘The BBC\u2019s reputation is held by everyone, and when someone makes a mistake, it costs us.<\/p>\n<p>‘And I think we absolutely need people to be the exemplars of BBC values and follow our social media policies, simple as that,’ he replied.<\/p>\n<p 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The image in question was<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/14\/gary-lineker-apologises-unreservedly-for-antisemitic-instagram-post\/\" class=\"readmore\">Continue reading<svg class=\"icon icon-arrow-right\" aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"img\"> <use href=\"#icon-arrow-right\" xlink:href=\"#icon-arrow-right\"><\/use> <\/svg><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Gary Lineker \u2018apologises unreservedly\u2019 for Antisemitic Instagram post<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":777,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5343"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5343"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5343\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5345,"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5343\/revisions\/5345"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pilotshopworld.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}