BBC Removes Miriam Margolyes Comment About ‘Jewish and Vile’ Dickens Character From Radio Program
Shiryn Ghermezian
Miriam Margolyes. Photo: YouTube screenshot
The BBC said on Wednesday that it edited out a comment by Jewish actress Miriam Margolyes about the fictional Charles Dickens character Fagin being “Jewish and vile” from a recording of the BBC Radio 4 show “Front Row.”
The British-Australian actress, who is best known for playing Professor Sprout in the “Harry Potter” film franchise, made the comment on Tuesday while discussing her one-woman show “Margolyes & Dickens: The Best Bits” during a live talk at the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. When “Front Row” host Kristy Wark asked Margolyes, 83, who was “the first Dickens character that stuck in your head as a child,” she quickly replied, “Oh, Fagin. Without question. Jewish and vile.”
Her response elicited laughter from the audience. Margolyes then added, “I didn’t know Jews like that then — sadly I do now.”
The BBC told the UK’s Jewish News on Wednesday night: “This was an unexpected comment made during a live broadcast which should have been challenged at the time. We have taken swift action to remove it from the program and it is no longer available.”
In the edited version of the “Front Row” episode, Margolyes is heard saying Fagin in response to Wark’s question, but the recording then skips to the actress saying, “I [was] just magic-ed by the passion of him, the wickedness and the humor.”
Fagin was the villainous Jewish character in Dickens’ novel “Oliver Twist.” Dickens described him as a cruel, ugly, and manipulative old man who teaches young children to be pickpockets and robbers so he can exploit them and profit off of what they steal. Fagin is repeatedly referred to as “the Jew” throughout the book.
Margolyes’ comment on the “Front Row” radio show was condemned by social media users, including former BBC News journalist Sarah Deech. “This is plain and ugly racism, from a woman who’s given a pass because apparently she is a ‘national treasure,’” Deech wrote in a post on X. “The fact Margolyes is herself Jewish is not the get out of jail free card you think it is.”
During “Margolyes & Dickens: The Best Bits” at the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the actress focuses on the works of Dickens and “brings to life the most colorful and iconic characters from his timeless novels,” according to a description provided by the festival. She’ll also do a Q&A with the live audience. The show, which is “guaranteed to offend and delight,” will take place on Thursday.
Margolyes has been a vocal critic of Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip responsible for the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in southern Israel. She has also advocated for a ceasefire to end the Israel-Hamas war. In April, she said Israeli military actions during the war have left her “so ashamed of Israel.”
“To me, it seems as if Hitler has won,” she added. “He’s changed us Jews from being compassionate and caring and do unto others as you would have them do unto you into this vicious, genocidal nationalist nation, pursuing and killing women and children.”
In 2014, Margolyes told Radio Times: “I don’t think people like Jews. They never have. English literature, my great love, is full of greasy and treacherous Jews.”
“I’m lucky they like me, and one always needs a Jewish accountant,” she added. “Antisemitism is horrible and can’t be defended, but Israel is stupid for allowing people to vent [about] it.” She also claimed that Israel’s defensive military actions against the US-designated terrorist group Hamas were “unacceptable.”
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