BBC axes left-wing satire show The Mash Report as presenter hits back
BBC axes left-wing satire show The Mash Report as presenter Nish Kumar hits back by calling Boris Johnson ‘a liar and a racist’
- BBC show which was accused of left-wing bias will not return for another series
- Broadcaster said it is axing programme to ‘make room for new comedy shows’
- Nish Kumar posted a photo showing words ‘Boris Johnson is a liar and a racist’
- The comedian captioned: ‘A lot of people asking me for a comment and here it is’
The Mash Report, the BBC show which was accused of left-wing bias, will not return for another series.
The broadcaster said it is ‘very proud’ of the programme but will be axing it ‘in order to make room for new comedy shows’.
The show, a satirical take on the week’s news which featured Nish Kumar and Rachel Parris, first aired in 2017.
Kumar hit back at the broadcaster’s decision to cancel The Mash Report, posting a picture of himself in front of the words ‘Boris Johnson is a liar and a racist’.
Nish Kumar posted a picture of himself in front of the words ‘Boris Johnson is a liar and a racist’ (above) in reaction to the BBC’s decision to axe the left-wing satire show
The comedian captioned his tweet: ‘A lot of people asking me for a comment and here it is’.
The BBC said in a statement: ‘We are very proud of The Mash Report but, in order to make room for new comedy shows, we sometimes have to make difficult decisions and it won’t be returning.
‘We would like to thank all those involved in four brilliant series and hope to work with Nish Kumar, Rachel Parris and the team in the future.’
Twitter users commented on Kumar’s post, with one saying: ‘Love the show and this is unfair’.
But others disagreed, with another person writing: ‘The Mash Report was terrible, that’s why it’s been cancelled.’
A third posted: ‘Can I just point out The Mash Report was completely unfunny’.
In 2018, broadcaster Andrew Neil singled out the satire show while complaining that the corporation’s comedy output was too left-wing.
He called the BBC Two programme ‘self-satisfied, self-adulatory, unchallenged left-wing propaganda’.
Kumar (pictured above), who also hosted Joel & Nish vs The World, often centres his stand-up routine on political matters and he is no stranger to controversy
In 2019, Kumar had bread thrown at him and was booed off stage after making a political joke at a charity cricket lunch
New director-general Tim Davie previously dismissed reports that he planned to overhaul BBC comedy, saying ‘comedy has always been poking at authority’.
But he said: ‘We need to nurture brilliant writers from all kind of perspectives’ and there must be ‘no assumed point of view’.
In 2019, Kumar had bread thrown at him and was booed off stage after making a political joke at a charity cricket lunch.
Kumar, who also hosted Joel & Nish vs The World, often centres his stand-up routine on political matters and he is no stranger to controversy.
In 2019 he said ‘the architects of Brexit are a cocktail of lying racists and buffoons’.
New director-general Tim Davie (pictured above) previously dismissed reports that he planned to overhaul BBC comedy, saying ‘comedy has always been poking at authority’
And in December 2018 he apologised for giving a platform on The Mash Report to Steve Topple, a ‘left-wing journalist who promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories’. Kumar promised to be ‘more judicious in future’.
The BBC’s decision to axe the show comes ahead of its annual TV licence fee being increased by £1.50, from £157.50 to £159, from 1 April 2021. This is the equivalent of £13.12 per month.
Since April last year, the annual cost is £157.50 for a colour licence and £53 for a black and white licence.
In May 2016, the Government announced the licence fee, which is compulsory for households who watch live television, would rise with inflation for the first five years of the Charter period as of 1 April 2017.
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