The BBC director general, Tim Davie, has apologised to the Jewish community for airing Bob Vylan’s now-notorious Glastonbury set.
The punk duo led a chant of “death, death to the IDF” and went on a rant about “Zionists” in the music industry during their set, which was streamed live on iPlayer on Saturday. A criminal investigation is underway into the performance.
The Chief Rabbi has said the airing of “vile Jew-hatred” at Glastonbury was a moment of “national shame”.
Writing to all staff at the corporation, Davie said: “I deeply regret that such offensive and deplorable behaviour appeared on the BBC and want to say sorry – to our audience and to all of you, but in particular to Jewish colleagues and the Jewish community.
“We are unequivocal that there can be no place for antisemitism at the BBC. I and everyone need to ensure that the BBC is a role model for inclusivity and tolerance and we all have a part to play. We are utterly committed to creating an environment where everyone is supported and can do their very best work.”
BBC News reported that several staff had been moved out of the music and live events team in the wake of the incident.
The BBC admitted errors made during the lead-up to and during Vylan’s performance. Before the show, the act was “deemed high risk” following a risk assessment which was applied to all acts, but nonetheless the act was thought to be suitable for live streaming with “appropriate mitigations”.
During the performance, the live stream was “monitored” and warnings appeared on the stream on two occasions, but the editorial team took the decision not to cut the feed.
The chairman of the corporation, Samir Shah, said this was “unquestionably an error of judgment”.
Shah said: “I’d like first of all to apologise to all our viewers and listeners and particularly the Jewish community for allowing the ‘artist’ Bob Vylan to express unconscionable antisemitic views live on the BBC.”
He said the BBC’s executive board met on Tuesday and agreed to implement “a set of strengthened editorial practices and policies for live music programming.”
The BBC will no longer live broadcast or stream performances deemed “high risk”. In addition, editorial policy support will also be available on site at major music festivals and events to improve compliance processes and speed of advice. The corporation will provide more detailed, practical guidance on the threshold for withdrawing a live stream.
Shah said this would "ensure proper accountability for those found to be responsible for the failings in this incident.”
He added that the executive “fully supports” the director general.
Davie has come under increased pressure since it emerged that he was at Glastonbury during the Vylan performance, which he decided – on the day – should not feature in further BBC coverage but remained on iPlayer for several hours.
The culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, told the Commons on Monday that the error was “something that must be gripped” and suggested that the number of editorial errors at the BBC suggested there was “a problem of leadership”.
