April 2020
Ms Maitlis used Newsnight to hit out at claims that coronavirus is a ‘great leveller’ for society as she said the poorest Britons are less likely to survive the pandemic.
She claimed on BBC Two that those most at risk of catching the infection are in low-paid jobs such as bus drivers, nurses and care home workers.
Matt Kilcoyne of the Adam Smith Institute claimed her comments breached impartiality guidelines, but her speech received widespread praise online.
September 2019
BBC bosses found against Emily Maitlis after an internal investigation when viewers complained she was ‘sneering and bullying’ towards journalist Rod Liddle during a Brexit debate.
The executive complaints unit at the BBC determined that Ms Maitlis had been too ‘persistent and personal’ during the late night discussion on BBC2 on July 15.
The incident, where she told Mr Liddle to ‘get a grip’ and said his columns contained ‘casual racism’ left her open to claims she had ‘failed to be even-handed’, their report said.
Viewers claimed the presenter’s attitude towards Liddle was systemic of the way the BBC has portrayed Leave voters.
August 2019
Emily Maitlis said the BBC’s move to uphold a complaint against Naga Munchetty for calling out Donald Trump over racism looked ‘massively out of touch’.
She gave her full support to Munchetty, who had condemned the President’s call for four Democratic congresswomen to go back to their own countries.
June 2019
The BBC criticised its own broadcaster Ms Maitlis about her performance in last week’s Conservative leadership debate.
A statement appeared on the BBC website saying that the Newsnight presenter was ‘not to everyone’s taste’. But the BBC quickly removed the comment, insisting it was a mistake.
The errant comment was a response to complaints about Maitlis’s performance in last week’s Conservative leadership debate.
Critics said the show turned into ‘an hour of men shouting inanely over each other’, while another said the BBC’s bar-stool format made the Tory MPs look like ‘a bunch of braying morons’.
April 2019
The broadcaster is named as Newsnight’s new lead presenter and said: ‘I don’t have to be liked’
March 2019
She was caught on camera visibly losing her patience with Labour MP Barry Gardiner on Newsnight. The host is seen rolling her eyes and shuffling her papers as he spoke.
July 2017
She urges male colleagues to join the gender pay gap fight – as women staff at the Corporation went into open revolt.
January 2016
Ms Maitlis revealed she was once told by a boss at the Corporation she would have to appear on Strictly Come Dancing if she wanted to progress. She previously claimed it is harder for a woman to be taken seriously and be successful at the BBC
August 2011
The newscaster was spotted wearing a charity wristband in support of the Forces charity Help for Heroes while presenting the news – despite there being a ban on presenters wearing such accessories.
July 2011
Dr David Starkey called her a ‘disgrace’ after he claimed that Britain had undergone a cultural shift and ‘the whites have become black’ during an interview with Ms Maitlis.
More than 700 people complained to the BBC and a further 103 contacted Ofcom claiming that the comments breached guidelines on racial offence.
November 2009
Ms Maitlis is named among a host of the BBC’s highest-paid presenters classing themselves as freelancers to avoid paying 50 per cent income tax.