Calls have been made to the BBC to cancel episodes of The Apprentice featuring a candidate accused of posting a’stream of anti-Jewish insults’ on social media.
Asif Munaf, a doctor from Sheffield, continued to perform on the long-running show despite making antisemitic remarks after attending a BBC-organised diversity and inclusion training session.
Last month, the physician apologised for inappropriate postings on the Hamas invasion of Israel, Zionism, Islam, and masculinity, and was given’specialist training’ by the broadcaster.
According to The Telegraph, following the seminar, Munaf made a ‘grotesquely’ antisemitic statement accusing Israel of weaponizing the Holocaust to promote a fascist ideology.
Danny Cohen, the BBC’s former head of TV, called for Munaf to be axed from The Apprentice, writing in the publication: ‘The BBC’s inaction sends a message. You can be racist towards Jews and there are no consequences.‘
Munaf’s antisemitic comments include tweeting in response to someone who had asked about his offensive comments after his casting in The Apprentice was confirmed: ‘Standard bitter Zionist crawling out from underneath her rock.’
Last year Munaf year posted on X that Zionists were a ‘godless, satanic cult’ and said of his children: ‘I pray they are strong enough physically, spiritually and psychologically to overcome the trial of the Zionist antichrist.’
He has also supported the University of Masculinity account on X, which has previously retweeted controversial influencer Andrew Tate’s messages.
Munaf also previously allegedly asked ‘have you ever met a beautiful feminist?’ in a derogatory video posted on Instagram titled Don’t Trust What Women Say.
A spokesperson for the BBC show has now said that after filming took place, they were made aware of ‘concerns over social media posts that Asif had made after he had left the process’.
‘As soon as we were alerted, we took immediate action and spoke to Asif in detail on this,’ they said.
‘Asif took part in specialised training to understand why his posts may cause offence.’
They added: ‘We are committed to providing an inclusive environment on and off screen.’
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In a statement, Munaf apologised for ‘any offence caused’ by his social media posts.
‘It was not my intention to offend anyone, and I am of course open to all views,’ he said.
‘The beliefs I hold and have shared are based on the values that I was brought up with.’
He has also denied allegations of antisemitism on X in January.
One of 18 hopefuls seeking to secure a £250,000 investment from Lord Alan Sugar, Munaf has described himself as having ‘beauty, brains, body and business’.
https://videos.metro.co.uk/video/met/2024/01/31/7054611763139136018/480x270_MP4_7054611763139136018.mp4His company concentrates on healthy vitamins and supplements.
Munaf previously featured on season 15 of Dragons’ Den, where he pitched his smoothie firm DATE Smoothie and sought to secure a £50,000 investment for a 10% interest.
Touker Suleyman, on the other hand, advised him that he ‘wasn’t a businessman,’ while Peter Jones indicated that he would ‘rather’ Munaf focus on saving lives as a doctor than exploring commercial enterprises.
The Apprentice continues tomorrow at 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
Source My Celebrity Life.