BBC journalist resigns after it’s revealed he backed Wiley over antisemitic rant

A journalist resigned from the BBC after it was revealed he had defended grime artist Wiley, following his antisemitic online rant.

Nimesh Thaker, who worked at BBC World News until this this week, used an anonymous Twitter account to defend the rapper Wiley, who made a number of statements on Twitter this summer deemed antisemitic.

After named Emma Barnett referenced Wiley’s remarks in speaking about her family’s Holocaust history, Thaker wrote that she was “using the same old antisemitism excuse whenever people criticise Israel.”

The Jewish Chronicle last month traced the account back to Thaker.

Over the summer, Wiley tweeted: “I don’t care about Hitler, I care about black people” and “There are 2 sets of people who nobody has really wanted to challenge #Jewish & #KKK but being in business for 20 years you start to undestand [sic] why.” He later apologised for the statements, but then made new ones deemed antisemitic.

The BBC declined to comment on Thaker, The JC reported.