(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) An Irish journalist accused of sexism and anti-Semitism apologized Tuesday for a column that got him fired, saying, “I am the author of my own misfortunes.”
Kevin Myers was fired by The Sunday Times of London over a column titled, “Sorry, ladies—equal pay has to be earned.” The piece sparked widespread accusations of anti-Semitism and misogyny.Commenting on a campaign by female BBC workers for equal pay, Myers wrote, “I note that two of the best-paid women presenters in the BBC—Claudia Winkelman and Vanessa Feltz, with whose, no doubt, sterling work I am tragically unacquainted—are Jewish. Good for them. Jews are not generally noted for their insistence on selling their talent for the lowest possible price.”
The article was widely condemned on social media, prompting Sunday Times editor Martin Ivens to issue an apology.
Frank Fitzgibbon, the editor of the newspaper’s Irish-language edition, said he takes “full responsibility for this error of judgment. This newspaper abhors anti-Semitism and did not intend to cause offense to Jewish people.”
Speaking with RTE Radio 1 in Dublin Tuesday, Myers apologized for the column.
“I am the author of that article, I am the author of my own misfortunes, I am the master of my soul. I must answer for what I have done,” he said, adding he is “a great admirer of the Jewish people….They are the most gifted people who have ever existed on this planet.”
