Irish journalist Kevin Myers has come in for some heavy criticism on Twitter following a comment made in a Sunday Times column.
In an article titled “Sorry, ladies — equal pay has to be earned,” Myers discussed the recent response to the disparity in pay across genders at the BBC.
Myers noted that Claudia Winkleman and Vanessa Feltz, two of the better-paid women at the British state broadcaster, are Jewish. He went on to write, “Jews are not generally noted for their insistence on selling their talent for the lowest possible price.”
The comment appears to have sparked a severe backlash on Twitter, with many tweeting their disapproval for Myers’ take.
Kevin Myers has espoused terrible and offensive opinions for decades and yet he's always been given a national platform
— Aoife Barry (@sweetoblivion26) July 30, 2017
And lo, it was on Sunday the 30th day of July 2017, in the year of our Lord, that the British discovered one Kevin Myers.
— Richard Chambers (@newschambers) July 30, 2017
See the English have discovered Kevin Myers. Somebody cut the phone lines at LBC before they offer him a job.
— Karl McDonald (@karlusss) July 30, 2017
In 2008 Kevin Myers ran a column "Africa is giving nothing to anyone – apart from Aids" – and he is still being published.
— Felicity Morse (@FelicityMorse) July 30, 2017
Watching Twitter discover Kevin Myers is an unexpectedly fun Sunday game https://t.co/HocA6FbJHF
— Peter Geoghegan @ democracyforsale.substack (@PeterKGeoghegan) July 30, 2017
TheTimes.co.uk has now removed the original article from their website, and have now released a statement on the incident.
Martin Ivens, Editor of The Sunday Times, has issued an apology for comments made by Irish journalist Kevin Myers in today’s Irish edition of The Sunday Times.
In a statement posted to The Sunday Times’ Twitter account, Ivens wrote, “The comments in a column by Kevin Myers in today’s Irish edition of The Sunday Times were unacceptable and should not have been published.”
“It has been taken down and we sincerely apologise both for the remarks and the error of judgement that led to publication.”
Statement below from the editor regarding today's Kevin Myers article: pic.twitter.com/Tqdk8bhbTw
— Times Politics (@timespolitics) July 30, 2017
