Vanessa Feltz 'extremely upset' by antisemitic Sunday Times article

The BBC presenter targeted in a Sunday Times article branded antisemitic, racist and misogynistic has spoken of her hurt at reading the piece.

Vanessa Feltz said she felt 'extremely upset' by the abuse which suggested that she and Claudia Winkleman – the two highest paid female presenters at the BBC – reached the top because they were Jewish.

 The Sunday Times

Speaking on BBC Radio London, where she presents the breakfast show, Feltz said the comment article written by Kevin Myers was 'so obviously racist it's surprisingly hurtful' and questioned how none of the editors spotted it.

'I would have thought after all these years I'd be immune or used to it, but that's not at all how I felt. I felt extremely upset.

'The apologies are all very well but how did it end up in the paper in the first place?' she said.

The Sunday Times' editor Martin Ivens rang her up personally to apologise, Feltz revealed, telling her he was horrified.

The article was published in the paper's Irish version and was titled 'Sorry, ladies – equal pay has to be earned'.

Commenting on BBC figures that revealed that two-thirds of its top earners taking home more than £150,000 are male, author Myers wrote: 'Good for them.

'Jews are not generally noted for their insistence on selling their talent for the lowest possible price, which is the most useful measure there is of inveterate, lost-with-all-hands stupidity.'

Vanessa Felz is one of the Jewish women targeted by Myers. Wikimedia Commons

He also argued that men get paid more because they 'work harder, get sick less frequently and seldom get pregnant'.

The paper's Irish editor Frank Fitzgibbon said he took full responsibility and said: 'This newspaper abhors anti-Semitism and did not intend to cause offence to Jewish people.'

A spokesman for News UK, which owns The Sunday Times, said the column included 'unacceptable comments both to Jewish people and to women in the workplace'.

News
Russian courts ban more Baptist churches in continued crackdown
Russian courts ban more Baptist churches in continued crackdown

Russian courts have banned three more Baptist churches affiliated with the Council of Churches Baptists in the southern region of Krasnodar amid an ongoing crackdown on unregistered congregations across the country.

Evangelicals offer praise for Armenia PM after he recites Bible at prayer breakfast amid church tensions
Evangelicals offer praise for Armenia PM after he recites Bible at prayer breakfast amid church tensions

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, under criticism from rights groups over his government's treatment of senior clergy from Armenia's national church, received strong praise from American and British Evangelical leaders after highlighting his record at the country's first national prayer breakfast on Saturday. 

Hollywood stars Cate Blanchett and Spike Lee meet Pope
Hollywood stars Cate Blanchett and Spike Lee meet Pope

Pope Leo XIV welcomed a group of Hollywood luminaries to the Vatican on Saturday, including Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett and director Spike Lee. 

The gift of fellowship in building one body in Christ
The gift of fellowship in building one body in Christ

There’s a saying that a lone coal grows dim, but coals heaped together glow red-hot. The same could be said of the Church.