BBC sacked me after I criticised its Hamas coverage but not journalists who celebrated October 7, says former presenter

“At the same time as my tweets, BBC Arabic journalists liked and shared hateful antisemitic posts which expressed support for the October 7 massacre,” he said.

“The BBC investigated them but none of them were disciplined. I got dismissed. How is that fair? It’s two-tier.”

McGinty, who earlier this year lost a tribunal claim for unfair dismissal, also accused the BBC of having a “metropolitan” bias and a “toxic culture”.

Speaking about his decision to criticise the BBC over its policy on how to describe Hamas, he said: “I stand by it 100 per cent. I just didn’t think it was right. I was making observations and I worked for BBC, so that was the reason why I called it out.

“If I observed a fight in the street as a journalist, I would report on the radio live that a violent man attacked another man. I can say that because I observed it, and when you observe terrorist attacks on a scale of barbarism that has rarely been seen, it’s terrorism and the group behind it is a terrorist organisation. The BBC were also putting death figures from the war that were all from Hamas, but for a while they did not say that they were. It was not right.”

McGinty claimed the BBC had “weak managers” who preside over a “toxic culture”, resulting in recent scandals such as presenter Huw Edwards’ admission he had committed child sex offences in 2024.

“There is a toxic culture across the BBC, and it’s because of the weak managers that allow it to happen,” McGinty said. “Nothing ever gets dealt with because they’re weak. That’s why we have Huw Edwards. That’s why we had all these other creeps and f---ing weirdos. That’s why they exist, because weak management creates a toxic culture.”

McGinty, a journalist on BBC Radio Lancashire for 22 years, suffers from ADHD, which was diagnosed when he was a child, and severe anxiety, and argued at the tribunal his actions were a result of his conditions and brought a discrimination case.

But the tribunal found his claims were “not well-founded”.

McGinty made a series of comments on X in the wake of October 7, including sharing and “liking” other users’ posts that criticised the BBC and a number of its journalists for their reporting on the attack.

In one post on X in October 2023, McGinty said the BBC had a “fear of the word terrorist”, and that Hamas was a “terrorist organisation” guilty of “sadistic killings”.

“That’s the word any decent person would use who’s bothered to look at the evidence,” he added.

In dismissing him the BBC found that other posts containing “anti-trans sentiments” were a breach of impartiality.

In an email on October 16, 2023, McGinty told Arthanayake that he was “sociopathic” after the then 5Live presenter recommended followers read the book A Day in the Life Of Abed Salama by Nathan Thrall, and watch The Human Factor, a documentary on attempts to achieve peace between Israel and Palestine, to “understand the context” behind the terror attack.

McGinty emailed: “It is remarkable that you have the hubris to instruct me to read a book so I can find out why these animals are such murderous b-----ds… These are actions of evil monsters… It’s sociopathic of you to suggest anyone should read a book to seek context… I don’t look for context for disgusting excuses for human beings.

“That being said, I am looking forward to your recommending books that give some context and understanding of Lucy Letby, Harold Shipman and the Yorkshire Ripper.”

The BBC launched an investigation in October 2023 and McGinty went on long-term sick leave in November 2023.

He was later taken to a disciplinary hearing and sacked for gross misconduct in July 2024, a decision that was upheld on appeal in February 2025.

McGinty then brought claims of unfair dismissal, disability discrimination and failure to make reasonable adjustments, against the BBC.

He accepted that he had made the remarks but said his ADHD and anxiety “caused him to express views that he would otherwise have kept private”.

However, a written judgment approved by Employment Judge Dawn Shotter, concluded "there was no causal connection between his disability and the gross misconduct Mr McGinty was accused of”.

The tribunal also found the dismissal was reasonable because of the organisation's impartiality rules as it "could not have contentious and sensitive biased posts made public by a journalist who would continue to do so into the future because he was not accepting he was wrong, strongly holding personal views that overrode the BBC's restrictions on journalists”.

Shotter said: "[Mr McGinty] says he has a right to hold his views and there is no disputing that he indeed had this right.

“The problem for [Mr McGinty] was communicating his views to the wider public in breach of fundamental constraints imposed on him given the fact he was employed as a journalist and subjected to policies, which if breached, could result in disciplinary proceedings and dismissal.”

BBC launched an independent internal review in December 2025 which found there was no “toxic culture” within the organisation, but set out immediate steps for action were implemented.

The BBC has said it does not describe Hamas as “terrorists” because it believes the word to be “loaded”.  World Affairs Editor John Simpson wrote on the subject: “Our business is to present our audiences with the facts, and let them make up their own minds.”  

The BBC said about the dismissal case: “Sean McGinty was dismissed for gross misconduct and this was upheld by an employment tribunal, which found his claims 'were not well founded'."