Julie Burchill claims she was ‘SACKED’ from the Telegraph
Julie Burchill claims she has been ‘SACKED’ as a Daily Telegraph columnist after sparking fury by saying Harry and Meghan could call their baby ‘Georgina Floydina’
- Julie Burchill claims she was ‘sacked’ after joking about the Sussexes’ new baby
- She suggested Harry and Meghan could name their child ‘Georgina Floydina’
- She today posted that she had been let go from her newspaper position
Telegraph columnist Julie Burchill claims she has been ‘sacked’ – after she sparked fury by saying Prince Harry and Meghan Markle could call their baby ‘Georgina Floydina’.
Ms Burchill, who lives in Brighton, deleted her Twitter account after making the comment about the Sussexes’ second child.
She today posted on her Facebook page that she had been let go from her newspaper position, adding: ‘It’s been a lovely five years, and I’ll always be grateful to them for ending my Wilderness Years.
‘However, I’d be lying if I said that I hadn’t often moaned to my husband recently about them always rejecting my *edgy* column ideas and giving me more pedestrian ones – which I’ve done splendidly anyway.
Julie Burchill, who lives in Brighton, deleted her Twitter account after making the comment about the Sussexes’ second child
‘I hope you can see my archive here. Onwards and upwards!’
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex had announced the arrival of their second child on Sunday.
Ms Burchill then tweeted: ‘What a missed opportunity! They could have called it Georgina Floydina!’
The post is a reference to George Floyd, who was murdered by a US policeman.
The killing sparked worldwide Black Lives Matter protests.
While Ms Burchill has claimed she was ‘sacked’, MailOnline understands that the Telegraph has not ruled out the possibility of using her as a contributor again in the future.
MailOnline has contacted Telegraph Media Group for clarification.
Following on from the Lilibet row, barrister Joanna Toch, 59, was suspended from her legal practice the Family Law Cafe in London over a ‘racist’ tweet posted in reply to Ms Burchill’s original remark.
Referring to Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland, Miss Toch wrote: ‘No Doria? Don’t black names matter?’
Ms Burchill wrote back: ‘I was hoping for Doria Oprah, the racist rotters’ – a reference to chat show star Miss Winfrey, who had hosted Harry and Meghan’s infamous interview back in March. The family law barrister then replied: ‘Doprah?’
After a furious backlash online, Miss Toch apologised ‘unreservedly’ and said she herself had ‘children of colour’.
Before deleting her Twitter account, Miss Toch – a former British Olympic rower – wrote: ‘I am very sorry for the comment and what I saw as a joke. I’ve fought during my professional life against racism which is abhorrent.’
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex had announced the arrival of their second child on Sunday
Ms Burchill today posted on her Facebook page that she had been let go from her newspaper position, adding: ‘It’s been a lovely five years, and I’ll always be grateful to them for ending my Wilderness Years’
Barrister Joanna Toch, 59, was suspended from her legal practice after she suggested that the Sussexes’ new daughter should be called Doprah
But her company Family Law Cafe then said it had suspended her ‘pending an internal review’ into the remarks.
Ms Burchill had sparked controversy late last year after telling a Muslim journalist that her following of the Prophet Muhammad was the ‘worship of a paedophile’.
She then apologised ‘unreservedly and unconditionally’ and revealed in a statement published on Twitter that she had agreed to pay Novara Media reporter Ash Sarkar ‘substantial damages’ for the ‘distress’ caused by the row last December.
The spat started when Ms Burchill defended journalist Rod Liddle after Ms Sarkar hit out at a 2012 article in the Spectator where Mr Liddle said he did not become a teacher because he would want to sleep with pupils.
Ms Burchill then claimed Ms Sarkar’s reverence of the Prophet was the ‘worship of a paedophile’, referring to the 7th-Century leader’s marriage to his third wife when she was around 10, and that she was an ‘Islamist’ and a ‘hypocrite’.
Ms Sarkar brought defamation complaints, claiming they played into ‘damaging tropes of anti-Muslim hate’.
In a statement in March this year, Ms Burchill said she accepted that her statements were ‘defamatory of Ms Sarkar and caused her very substantial distress’ and agreed not to contact her directly except for legal reasons.
