An Oscar- and Emmy-winning producer has received a payout of more than £400,000 from the BBC after claiming she was victimized and forced out of the corporation following the October 7 attacks.
Lucie Kon left the broadcaster in April, just 19 days after winning an Oscar for her work, following a dispute over antisemitism in the workplace. Having built a stellar career on major programs including Panorama, Today, BBC Breakfast, and Storyville, her commissioned and produced films have earned an Emmy, an Oscar, a BAFTA, and many other prestigious industry honors.
Speaking to The Telegraph on Sunday, Kon alleged that her professional treatment shifted rapidly after the October 7 attacks in Israel. As footage and news of the atrocities emerged, she had messaged a colleague on WhatsApp asking if they had seen what was happening in Israel and remarking that Hamas were evil. In response, the colleague told her that “Zionists” were evil.
“I was like, ‘What?’ And she went, ‘Evil Hamas, evil Zionists,’ a bit like it was a joke, like they were the same and they’re not the same, and that was a particularly tasteless thing to say at that particular moment in history,” Kon said.
Later, when Kon sought to raise concerns about the treatment of Jewish staff and insisted that staff should at least be able to describe Hamas as committing acts of terror, another colleague told her that if she wanted to refer to Hamas as terrorists, she was required to call Israel a terrorist state as well.
Kon helps set up WhatsApp group for Jewish BBC employees
Pushed by the worsening workplace environment, Kon helped set up an internal WhatsApp group for Jewish employees at the corporation and wrote to then-Director General Tim Davie to raise concerns.
Shortly afterward, as more footage of the atrocities emerged, Kon proposed producing a film about the events of October 7 to a colleague who had previously made inappropriate remarks. When she mentioned the idea, the colleague dismissed it, saying they had already made enough films about Israel, but Kon’s manager later called her over to discuss the project.
“She said, ‘Lucie, we probably will do the Nova film,’” Kon recounted. “And she said to me, ‘But if we do it, we need to contextualize why Hamas did what they did.’”
When Kon questioned this requirement, explaining that the project was intended as a straightforward account of what happened that day rather than a deep dive into the historical and political context of the region, her manager’s manager informed her that she could no longer oversee the film. When Kon asked why, the manager told her it was “because you’re Jewish” and stated she was partial.
Kon noted that the manager then stated the person who was going to look after the film instead was the very same colleague who had previously told her that if Hamas were terrorists, the Israelis were terrorists too. An arrangement was later reached where Kon could oversee the film, but only under the strict supervision of someone else to ensure she remained impartial.
Kon subsequently raised a formal grievance. News of the grievance quickly reached the colleague who had made the remarks about Zionists, and that colleague wanted nothing more to do with Kon. This meant the two could no longer attend meetings together, and Kon was instructed not to come into work.
Six months later, she received the outcome. “It wasn’t upheld,” Kon said. “I was told that a lot of the things that I’d said people didn’t remember saying. And I was told that I’d been told - that I hadn’t been told I couldn’t work on the Nova film because I was a Jew - that they were worried about my mental health.”
When she appealed the decision, that appeal was also unsuccessful. At the time of her appeal, the BBC moved her colleague away from the Strand to work elsewhere, while Kon was told she could no longer travel, commission, or speak on behalf of the BBC because it would be unfair to her colleague.
Kon continued working from home while her appeal was considered, but by December, the stress took a toll, and her health began to deteriorate. After submitting a doctor’s note for stress-related sick leave, she was called into a meeting where she was told her job was being put at risk of redundancy. Having returned from sick leave, she applied for a newly created position but was rejected and made redundant in April.
BBC refuses to apologize, call Kon victim of antisemitism
According to The Telegraph, she brought unfair dismissal proceedings against the BBC, which agreed to pay her substantial compensation, partly funded by the license fee, without admitting liability. The corporation refused to apologize or admit she was a victim of antisemitism.
The Telegraph noted that she is the first person known to have been given a settlement by the BBC after alleging antisemitic behavior among colleagues. Speaking about the broader climate for staff after her departure, Kon reportedly told The Telegraph that other Jewish colleagues are still being bullied and abused, adding, “I know that nothing has changed because I’ve spoken to quite a few people since I left. Friends who are still struggling, still suffering, who feel embarrassed to say that they’re Zionist or that they’re a Jew.”
“I went from being a journalist and commissioner at the BBC who was Jewish to being a Jewish journalist at the BBC,” Kon said. “It was like I had Jew stamped on my forehead. I think I became a problem. I think I made too much of a noise about being a Jew inside the BBC.”
Kon added, “A colleague of mine said to me a while ago that if you say you’re a Zionist at the BBC, you might as well say that you were the person who had their foot on the neck of George Floyd. You’re a murderer. You’re an evil colonialist. You are a racist, and I’m not any of those things, and neither are the other people I know who are Zionist.”
“I stood up for who I was,” Kon said. “I stood up for what I believed to be right. The BBC says, ‘Bring your authentic self to work.’ And I did, and I lost my job as a result.”
A BBC spokesperson said in a statement, “We are grateful that Ms. Kon acknowledges that the BBC is not institutionally antisemitic. The BBC processes did not uphold any of Ms. Kon’s allegations of antisemitism. However, the outcome acknowledged shortcomings and the personal impact on Ms. Kon. We would like to acknowledge that Ms. Kon was a valued member of staff with many years of dedicated service to the BBC.”