Who supported Gary Lineker amid BBC row?

Celebrities and cultural figures, including a Nobel Prize winner in literature and a comedian, have offered their thoughts on the BBC’s impartiality dispute with Gary Lineker.

The company said on Friday it had “decided” that the former England star would take a break from presenting the highlights program pending an “agreed and clear position” on his use of social media.

The 62-year-old was embroiled in a dispute over impartiality after he used Twitter to compare the language used to introduce a new government asylum policy to 1930s Germany.

Many have used the hashtags #StandWithGary, #IStandWithGaryLineker OR #IStandWithGary to show their support for Lineker.

– Carol Vorderman

Media personality Vorderman, who regularly tweets criticism of the government, posted several messages with the hashtag #IStandWithGary.

In a post on Saturday, she visited BBC headquarters in London and quoted George Orwell, who wrote: “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they don’t want to hear.”

– Twilight French

Actress and comedian Dawn French retweeted a post from a Twitter user that read: “Shakespeare says stand by Gary Lineker. As only he can.”

The post quoted a passage from Shakespeare’s play Sir Thomas More.

Above the retweeted post, French added, “That. #IStandWithGaryLineker.”

– Pier Morgan

Despite saying he “didn’t agree” with Lineker’s tweet, Piers Morgan tweeted, “Gary hasn’t said any of this on the BBC and isn’t even a BBC employee… I didn’t agree with what he said but so what? It is HIS opinion.”

– Ian Wright

Ian Wright was one of Lineker’s most vocal supporters, with whom he appears regularly on Match Of The Day.

On Friday night, the pundit and former Arsenal forward Wright said he would not appear on the show in “Solidarity” on Saturday.

“Everyone knows what Match of the Day means to me but I’ve told the BBC I won’t be doing it tomorrow. solidarity,” he said.

On Friday’s episode of his podcast, Wrighty’s House, he added, “I’ll tell you something. If they do – the BBC gets rid of Gary Lineker – I’m out, I’m out. I am not staying there. He should be able to say what he wants to say on his own platform.”

– Alan Scherer

Former Newcastle and England star Alan Shearer also withdrew from Saturday’s Match Of The Day.

The 52-year-old simply tweeted: “I have informed the BBC that I will not be appearing on MOTD tomorrow night.”

– Philip Pullman

Writer Philip Pullman endorsed Lineker, Wright, and Shearer.

He tweeted: “I hope the BBC finds this all very difficult. Now my admiration for Gary Lineker, Ian Wright and Alan Shearer knows no bounds.”

– Kazuo Ishiguro

The Nobel Prize winner in literature and football fan Kazuo Ishiguro also supported Lineker.

“I think he’s become one of the really important cultural figures in the country. I think he represents really good things. I fully support him on this one,” he wrote.

– Emily Maitlis

Former BBC Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis, who was reprimanded by the BBC for retweeting a Piers Morgan post criticizing the government’s response to the pandemic, said the company could face a “bigger fight” after its decision “ to face.

“I’m not sure, when they suggested that Gary Lineker pull out of #MOTD, the BBC realized it could start a much, much bigger fight,” she wrote.

However, not all have supported Lineker, and some politicians have criticized him for speaking his mind.

– Nigel Farage

UK news presenter and former UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage has urged the ex-footballer to apologize.

He tweeted, “Gary Lineker has been spreading hate and should apologize.”

– Nadine Dorries

The former Culture Secretary tweeted on Friday night that Lineker “has to make a choice… is he a footie presenter or a Labor Party candidate?”

She later added: “The difference between Gary and I is that I’m an old retired Con MP starting out as a non-BBC presenter. He is a classic BBC presenter who started out as a Labor Party activist.

“Only if you work for a public broadcaster as your feepayer-funded platform, you can’t. But you all knew that.”

– Suella Bravermann

The Home Secretary, whose husband is Jewish, has criticized Lineker for his comments.

“My children are … direct descendants of people who were murdered in gas chambers,” she said.

“Throwing away these sorts of flippant analogies diminishes the unspeakable tragedy that millions of people went through and I don’t think anything happening in Britain today comes close to what happened in the Holocaust.”

– Lee Anderson

The vice leader of the Conservative Party previously called the conclusions that could be drawn from Lineker’s tweet as “disgusting and abhorrent”.

When news broke that the football pundit was removed from the match of the day, he tweeted: “Sad news. It won’t be the same without him,” with a shhh emoji.