Alastair Stewart offered to ‘privately’ apologise to accuser after ‘angry ape’ tweet but ITV ‘wanted him gone’ – The Sun

ALASTAIR Stewart offered to privately apologise to the black man who accused him of an "angry ape" slur on Twitter.

The veteran broadcaster, 67, announced last week he would be quitting after "errors of judgement" in his use of social media.

The ITV News anchor, who was Britain's longest serving newsreader, left the job three weeks after he was accused of calling Martin Shapland an ape on Twitter.

But ITV colleagues and fellow presenters leapt to his defence, with an insider insisting "he is certainly not a racist".

In an online debate about the financial relationship between the Crown and the taxpayer, the presenter replied with an obscure quote from Shakespeare's Measure for Measure.

In the string of tweets Mr Stewart wrote: “But man, proud man, Dress'd in a little brief authority Most ignorant of what he's most assur'd – His glassy essence—like an angry ape plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven.

"As makes the angels weep; who, with our spleens, Would all themselves laugh mortal.”

The veteran news man reportedly offered to say sorry to Mr Shapland but sources say ITV chiefs wanted him out the door.

Friends of Stewart said channel bosses told him an apology would not be enough to save his job and forced him out.

Mr Shapland, 34, has since said he regrets the resignation and would have been satisfied with an apology.

A friend of Stewart said ITV “definitely wanted him out”, reports The Times.

Mr Stewart used the same Shakespeare quote in at least one other exchange with a Twitter user who wasn't identifiably black.

Mr Shapland, a policy manager at the Institution of Civil Engineers, shared the tweet, calling the presenter a "disgrace" for using the quote, which he claimed used a racial slur against him.

He later tweeted: "Just an ITV newsreader referring to me as an ape with the cover of Shakespeare.

"Measure for measure, Alistair is a disgrace."

ITV did not officially releas the reason but several ITV News sources told The Sun Online the departure was linked to the ape tweet.

In a statement, the award-winning presenter said: "It was a misjudgement which I regret, but it's been a privilege to bring the news to households throughout the UK for the past 40 years."

His Twitter account has since been deleted.

In another online spat in 2018, Mr Stewart used the quote when a Twitter user criticised the ITV anchor, telling him as a journalist he should know the importance of checking facts.

Very sad about the departure of Alastair Stewart. He was a good friend and mentor to me when I started at Carlton TV, and we worked together for more than 27 years. I will miss him.

An ITV spokesman said: "The decision, which is supported by both ITV and ITN, follows errors of judgement in Mr Stewart's use of social media which breached ITN’s editorial guidelines."

Colleagues and fellow news presenters tonight backed Mr Stewart over the race row.

An ITN insider told The Daily Mail: "He would have thought he was being clever and it was merely an innocent put-down.

"He is certainly not a racist in any way. Alastair is a hugely popular figure, well liked, kind and something of an institution. It is sad if he has had to go."

ITV Evening News presenter Mary Nightingale said: "Very sad about the departure of #AlastairStewart.

"He was a good friend and mentor to me when I started at Carlton TV, and we worked together for more than 27 years. I will miss him."

ITV News at Ten presenter Julie Etchingham wrote: "So sad to learn this – we have worked on many big stories together & Al is a trusted friend and guide to many of us."

A source told The Sun that ITV bosses had been scaling back his role and may have 'felt the time was right'.

Mr Stewart has enjoyed a glittering career as one of TV's most respected news presenters, joining Southern Television in 1976 then ITN in 1980.

He was one of the last journalists to interview Lord Mountbatten before he was assassinated by the IRA in 1979.

The veteran broadcaster was the ITN’s News at Ten anchor from 1989, leading the channel’s coverage of the fall the of the Berlin Wall.

Mr Stewart moved to work in the US as ITN’s Washington correspondent, before heading to Saudi Arabia for two months to cover the Gulf War in 1990.

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