British filmmaker Asif Kapadia’s patronage of the Grierson Trust has been revoked after backlash against his allegedly antisemitic social media posts, the trust said in a statement on Friday.
While the trust did not mention the Israel-Palestine conflict in connection with Kapadia’s ouster, Variety and Deadline reported that the filmmaker’s posts were critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and of Tel Aviv’s war on Gaza.
The Oscar- and BAFTA-winning producer, director and writer has since deleted his account on social media platform X and closed his Instagram account to the public.
He is best known for his documentaries Senna, Amy and Diego Maradona.
Senna is based on the life of Brazilian motor-racing champion Ayrton Senna, while Amy is based on the life of British singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse. Diego Maradona is based on the life of the Argentine football player with the same name.
The Grierson Trust supports documentary filmmakers globally through the Grierson Awards and its training branch Grierson DocLab. On October 9, the trust announced the appointment of Kapadia, along with Louis Theroux and Dorothy Byrne, as its new patrons.
“Patrons lend their knowledge, influence and contacts to help bolster our work in fostering a strong and diverse docs community,” the Grierson Trust said at the time.
On Friday, however, the trust said: “Since the Grierson Trust announced that Asif Kapadia had been appointed as one of our patrons, some social media posts shared by him have been drawn to our attention which are antisemitic. As a result, at an 8 a.m. board meeting this morning, we took the decision to rescind his role as patron of the Trust.”
“When we made the decision to appoint Mr. Kapadia, the board was not aware of these posts, some of which appear to be no longer available, and we are sorry that our due diligence was not thorough enough,” the statement read. “Whilst we accept and support that everyone has a legitimate right to express their views on controversial issues, this cannot justify racist statements or behavior.”
Kapadia’s posts had reportedly likened the Israeli government to Nazis and fascists.
Israel’s attacks on the besieged Palestinian enclave began on October 7 after militant group Hamas invaded southern Israel, killing 1,200 persons and taking over 200 hostages.
Over the past 12 months, Israel has carried out unprecedented air and ground strikes on Gaza. The attacks have killed more than 42,000 persons, including over 16,500 children.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!