Sky News has officially scrapped its After Dark program, Freya Fires Up, hosted by conservative commentator Freya Leach, following a guest’s Islamophobic stunt where he wore bacon on his shoulders to “protect” himself from “terrorists”.
About a week ago, Freya Fires Up landed itself in hot water after conservative UK Influencer Ryan Williams went on an Islamophobic rant on the show while wearing bacon rashers on his shirt.
Following the stunt, Sky News launched a review into the program, announcing that it axed live broadcasts and opted for pre-recorded episodes. Now, the network has decided to scrap the whole show altogether.
“We have undertaken a thorough internal review, implemented its recommendations, and taken appropriate action with everyone involved in this incident,” a spokesperson told The Sydney Morning Herald.
“We took immediate action during the live broadcast to cut off the guest, our host promptly apologised, and we ensured the content was not published or republished to any of our digital platforms.”
While the network confirmed it had officially pulled the plug on Freya Fires Up, Sky said Leach will continue to work with the network as a co-host on The Late Debate, which runs from Mondays to Thursdays.
Why was Freya Fires Up cancelled?
On September 21, Williams was invited on the show as part of a panel. During his appearance, Williams donned two bacon rashers on his shoulders, stating, “The reason why I’ve got bacon on my shoulders is because the terrorists are a charming lot and they threaten to behead me every single day”, before spouting a series of Islamophobic remarks.
Shortly after his appearance, which was promptly cut short, Leach apologised to the audience.
“We do have to apologise for what was just aired, those comments earlier,” the host said before rolling on with the program.
A day later, a spokesperson for Sky said “an immediate review” into the program was launched, including how guests are booked and the show’s vetting procedures to avoid a similar incident occurring again.
“These remarks were wholly inappropriate and unacceptable and have no place on our network. The guest responsible should never have appeared,” the spokesperson told the SMH.
“He was specifically asked for his reaction to the Charlie Kirk assassination and its fallout, but instead used our platform to spread his harmful views.
“We recognise the harm such rhetoric can cause and take full responsibility for this failure in our editorial processes.”
Per the SMH, two separate insiders who claimed to have knowledge of the incident said that News Corp has no senior editors or managers to review the Freya Fires Up guests, leaving Leach and her sole junior producer to allow Williams’ comments to go to air.
However, a spokesperson of Sky confirmed to PEDESTRIAN.TV that a senior producer was “overseeing the live broadcast and intervened”.
During a following episode of The Late Debate, Leach took the opportunity to apologise once more, claiming that Williams was “asked specifically for his reaction to the Charlie Kirk assassination and its fallout”.
“Instead [he] used our platform to spread his harmful views,” Leach said.
While Williams’ episode with Freya Fires Up was scrubbed from Sky’s platforms, the influencer reuploaded moments from his segment to his social media.
He also believed that he would be arrested for “hate speech” and shared a video of a Sky employee helping him with the bacon stunt.
In response, Sky claimed the employee was a “casual technical guest liaison” who helps guests set up for the interviews.
“He was not aware of the guest’s background and not involved in booking the guest or any editorial processes,” a spokesperson told SMH.
All of Freya Fires Up’s content has seemingly been wiped from the Sky website, and Leach herself has yet to comment on her show getting the axe.
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