Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne have joined more than 200 entertainment industry figures in signing an open letter demanding an investigation into alleged anti-Israel bias at the BBC.
The controversy follows a scandal involving a BBC documentary about Gaza that featured the son of a Hamas official as narrator.
Tim Davie, the BBC’s director-general, admitted there were “serious flaws” in the film “Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone” when he appeared before MPs last week.
The BBC later confirmed that payments were made to the family of its narrator Abdullah al-Yazouri, the 14-year-old son of Dr Ayman Alyazouri, Hamas’s deputy minister for agriculture.
“There have been continuing questions raised about the programme and in the light of these, we are conducting further due diligence with the production company,” the BBC said in a statement.
They added that while these were “important stories we think should be told”, the programme would not be available during the investigation and had been pulled from iPlayer.
Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne were among 200 entertainers backing a call for an inquiry into the BBC
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The open letter, signed by the Osbourne’s among others, stated: “It is time for the BBC to acknowledge that it has a systemic problem of bias against Israel of which this is the tip of the iceberg.”
It described the situation as “a true crisis for the broadcaster” that is being treated as “a minor inconvenience”.
The letter criticised the BBC for making “mockery of the Reithian Principles” and suggested “the board and senior management should be considering their positions”.
The letter has also been signed by Danny Cohen, the former BBC director of television, and actresses Mayim Bialik and Debra Messing.
The BBC is facing claims of ‘systemic’ bias for running the Gaza documentary
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The open letter mirrors a similar petition issued recently calling on the BBC to reinstate the pulled controversial documentary, which also drew support from the entertainment industry.
Former footballer and outgoing Match of the Day host Gary Lineker, actress Miriam Margolyes and Countryfile presenter Anita Rani were among those supporting the petition.
They called the documentary an “essential piece of journalism, offering an all too rare perspective on the lived experiences of Palestinians”.
Regarding the controversy surrounding Al-Yazouri’s father, they blame “broad-brush rhetoric” for presuming that “Palestinians holding administrative roles are inherently complicit in violence.”
In the petition, such language was described as a “racist trope that denies individuals their humanity and right to share their lived experiences”.
Lineker has faced backlash for calling for the return pf the controversial documentary
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“As industry professionals who craft stories for the British public, including for the BBC, we condemn the weaponisation of a child’s identity and the racist insinuation that Palestinian narratives must be scrutinised through a lens of suspicion,” the letter continued.
“We urge you to reject these tactics, protect vulnerable voices, and reaffirm your commitment to stories that hold power to account. Our screens and our society depend on it,” it concluded.
Silver slammed: “Who can forget the video he made last year in which he referred to the murder, torture, burning, rape and kidnapping of Jews in Israel as, and I quote, ‘the Hamas thing’?
“He is emblematic of everything that has become wrong with the BBC.”