The Grierson Trust has rescinded the patronage conferred on Oscar- and BAFTA-winning British filmmaker Asif Kapadia over social media posts he made about the ongoing conflict in Israel and Gaza.
Kapadia is the director of documentaries “Amy” and “Senna.” On Oct. 9, the Grierson Trust revealed the appointment of three new patrons, Dorothy Byrne, Kapadia and Louis Theroux. They joined the Trust’s existing patrons, David Attenborough, Nick Broomfield, Christopher Hird, Kim Longinotto, Charlotte Moore, Norma Percy and Grayson Perry.
“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,” the Trust said in a statement on Friday.
“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 Grierson Trust is deeply committed to promoting both freedom of speech and diversity and inclusion in the documentary industry. Whilst we accept and support that everyone has a legitimate right to express their views on controversial issues, this cannot justify racist statements or behaviour. As we have stressed in the past and will continue to uphold, the Trust has a zero tolerance approach to racism of all kinds,” the Trust added.
Kapadia has appeared to have deleted his account on X and has set his Instagram to private. Variety has approached Kapadia for comment.
