BBC anchor caught flipping bird to camera goes viral: 'It was a silly joke'
Anchor apologizes, explains she was joking around with her crew
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A news anchor for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was caught flipping her middle finger to the camera as the news program returned to air on Wednesday in a clip that went viral.
Maryam Moshiri, chief presenter for BBC News, was seen flashing her middle finger to the camera with a smirk on her face, after the BBC countdown clock descended to zero. Realizing she was on-air, Moshiri quickly composed herself and and said, "Live from London, this is BBC News."
The news clip was shared by an account on X, drawing over one million views overnight.
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"This isn’t satire, an actual BBC News presenter got caught giving the middle finger live. Maryam Moshiri summing up the professionalism currently at the BBC," the user wrote on X.
A BBC anchor's joking middle finger to her crew was caught on live TV. (BBC / Screenshot)
Moshiri apologized for the gesture in a Thursday morning social media post. She explained she was having a "private joke" with her colleagues when the channel returned to air.
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"Hey everyone, yesterday just before the top of the hour I was joking around a bit with the team in the gallery. I was pretending to count down as the director was counting me down from 10-0 including the fingers to show the number. So from 10 fingers held up to one," Moshiri wrote.
"When we got to 1 I turned [my] finger around as a joke and did not realise that this would be caught on camera. It was a private joke with the team and I’m so sorry it went out on air! It was not my intention for this to happen and I’m sorry if I offended or upset anyone," she added.
The journalist claimed she "wasn't flipping the bird" at anyone. "It was a silly joke that was meant for a small number of my mates," she stated.
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A BBC news anchor was caught flipping the bird to the camera on live TV; she explained later it was a joking gesture to her camera crew. (Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
The video provoked a variety of reactions, from people laughing off the gesture, to others who were skeptical of the journalist's apology.
Some critics complained that the BBC is funded through a license fee UK households are required to pay.
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The BBC referred Fox News Digital to Moshiri's apology when reached for comment.