Jayne Egerton, a BBC Radio 4 producer, shared a post referring to Erika Kirk, the widow of murdered right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk, as his “Zionist handler,” according to a report by Jewish News UK.
Egerton reportedly reposted this claim in a social media group she moderated.
The original post was authored by feminist activist Sasha S. Graham.
“Erica is not some ‘strong figure,’" Graham wrote. "She was Charlie’s Zionist handler who only exists in his sphere to redirect her husband’s organization into a politically acceptable organization. Her history tells the story of a traitor. Hell, she married a male supremacist.”
The female-only Facebook group, ‘Actual Gender Critical Left,’ which has 2,300 members, describes itself as “open to all persons of the female sex, including trans men, and non-binary, detransitioned, and reidentified women.”
Nevertheless, after being contacted by the BBC about this controversial content, the group reportedly switched to a “private membership” restriction.
The group states that it opposes “all alliances, collaboration, and coordination with organizations of the religious right or white nationalist/xenophobic right.”
Egerton, who served as an admin of the group, has since stepped down from her role amid the controversy.
This post is not the first of Egerton’s to raise concern. It comes as the latest in a series of controversial posts over the past few months.
Jewish News UK reported that in July, Egerton published a piece in the group titled “Debunked: A Reckoning with Zionist Charges in Contemporary Left Discourse.”
The writers of that piece expressed shock at the number of people defending Israel in the name of feminism. They reportedly stated their intention to “arm anti-Zionist feminists with a useful toolkit of information.”
Egerton described the piece as “impressive and deserving of circulation.”
Group posts about Israel
The ‘Actual Gender Critical Left’ group has also included posts about Israel and accusations of “pinkwashing,” referring to the alleged use of LGBTQ+ rights to promote a positive image of the Jewish state, according to the report.
One notable post was about Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, titled “Feminism, Zionism and the Death of Truth,” which included discussions comparing Israel to Nazi Germany and references to “ethnic cleansing.”
In another post, Egerton shared insights from an author of a report on “femi-genocide” in Gaza, adding, “She says the scale and nature of the crimes inflicted on Palestinian women and girls by Israeli forces are so extreme that existing legal and criminal frameworks can no longer adequately describe or capture them.”
Jewish News UK also quoted a BBC spokesperson who responded to the posts, saying, “We take allegations of breaches of our social media guidance very seriously. We do not comment on individual staff matters; however, if we find breaches, we take the appropriate action.”
Egerton has reportedly yet to comment on the controversy surrounding her social media activity.