Krishnan Guru-Murthy RETURNS to Channel 4 News

Channel 4 News anchor Krishnan Guru-Murthy RETURNS to broadcaster’s flagship programme after he was suspended for calling Tory minister a ‘c**t’

  • Channel 4 News anchor Krishnan Guru-Murthy has returned to the programme
  • He was taken off air for swearing at Northern Ireland minister Steve Baker
  • The presenter made no reference to the incident as he appeared back on show 

Channel 4 News anchor Krishnan Guru-Murthy has returned to the broadcaster’s flagship programme after he was suspended for calling Northern Ireland minister Steve Baker a ‘c**t’.

The presenter made no reference to the incident as he appeared back on the show on Monday night.

He was suspended for a week following the incident on Wednesday October 19 following an interview with the Tory MP.

After the interview, the live feed switched to Prime Minister Liz Truss’s Downing Street home. Guru-Murthy believed he was no longer on air, but his comments were picked up by other livestream broadcasts nearby.

In the footage, the presenter said: ‘It wasn’t a stupid question, Steve, you know it. I’m very happy to go up against you on [PM Liz] Truss any day. What a c**t.’

The presenter made no reference to the incident as he appeared back on the show on Monday night

Following the incident Mr Guru-Murthy tweeted an apology to Mr Baker

Channel 4 said his outburst had breached its code of conduct.

A statement from the broadcaster said: ‘Channel 4 has a strict code of conduct for all its employees, including its programming teams and on-air presenters, and takes any breaches seriously.

‘Following an off-air incident, Channel 4 News anchor Krishnan Guru-Murthy has been taken off air for a week.’

Following the incident Mr Guru-Murthy tweeted: ‘After a robust interview with Steve Baker MP I used a very offensive word in an unguarded moment off air.

‘While it was not broadcast that word in any context is beneath the standards I set myself and I apologise unreservedly.

‘I have reached out to Steve Baker to say sorry.’

Later, in an interview with Times Radio, Mr Baker said that sacking Mr Guru-Murthy would be a ‘service to the public’ if he was found to be in breach of his code of conduct.

‘I had an interview earlier with a journalist I don’t have a great deal of regard for who I felt was misrepresenting the situation through the construction of his question, which I called out, I think live on air, or I thought it was a pre-record,’ he said.

‘And he clearly didn’t like that, quite right, too. But I’d be quite honest, I spent a long time live on air, calling him out on his conduct as a journalist and glad to do so any time.

‘But it’s most unfortunate that he’s sworn on air like that. If it’s in breach of his code of conduct, I do hope they sack him – it would be a service to the public.’

Baker later replied to Mr Guru-Murthy’s tweet, accepting the apology and saying he ‘appreciated’ the gesture.

The interview came after a tumultuous day in Westminster which saw Suella Braverman resign as home secretary, to be replaced by Grant Shapps.

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