Sunday Times sacks columnist over ‘unacceptable’ comments on Jews, women

DUBAI: British-Irish columnist Kevin Myers was sacked from The Sunday Times after he wrote an “unacceptable” article in which he suggested that two women in the British entertainment industry were paid more because they are Jewish.
The newspaper’s editors were forced to issue an apology after Myers’ article on the gender pay gap at the BBC, which has been heavily reported on after the organization published the salaries of its top stars revealing a large gender pay gap, caused outcry.
In his article published Sunday in the newspaper’s Ireland edition, Myers pointed out that the BBC’s best-paid female presenters – Claudia Winkleman and Vanessa Feltz – are Jewish.
“Good for them,” he wrote. “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.”
Myers added that men tend to work harder and do not get pregnant.
The Sunday Times’ editor Martin Ivens released a statement confirming that Myers had been sacked.
“Further to our earlier statement we can confirm that Kevin Myers will not write again for the Sunday Times Ireland,” he said.
“A printed apology will appear in next week’s paper. The Sunday Times editor Martin Ivens has also apologized personally to Claudia Winkleman and Vanessa Feltz for these unacceptable comments both to Jewish people and to women in the workplace,” a previous statement said.
Frank Fitzgibbon, editor of the Sunday Times Ireland, took responsibility for the publication of the article.
‘As the editor of the Ireland edition, I take full responsibility for this error in judgment,’ he said.