Julie Burchill - TROLL OF THE MONTH

British Journalist and writer Julie Burchill has had her book contract cancelled by her publisher, Hachette, after making racist, defamatory and Islamophobic social media posts. On 13th December 2020, Julie accused Muslim Journalist Ash Sarkar of worshiping a paedophile and called her an Islamist after Sarkar commented on a 2012 Spectator Magazine article by Rod Liddle.

In the 2012 article, Rod Liddle wrote that, if he were a teacher, he “could not remotely conceive of not trying to shag the kids”. Ms Sarkar, in her tweet which included a screenshot of the piece, commented that she initially thought it “must be a parody”. Julie Burchill started attacking Ms Sarkar by publishing a number of social media posts to and about Sarkar’s comments on Liddle.

What exactly were Julie Burchill’s racist comments about Ms Sarkar that made her apologise and pay substantial damages to her? Ms Sarkar spoke about the incident to the Guardian: “Last December, I was referred to as an Islamist and a paedophile worshipper. I read multiple tweets speculating about whether I’m any good in bed, and insults about me supposedly having a moustache. Strange poems popped up portraying lurid sexual fantasies about having a threesome with me and the French far-right leader Marine Le Pen. I saw posts being liked on Facebook that told me to “kill myself for shame” and suggested that I had been a victim of female genital mutilation. None of these were the actions of an anonymous troll – they were the work of Sunday Telegraph columnist Julie Burchill”.

Ms Sarkar was represented by Rahman Lowe Solicitors where after winning the law suit, Julia Burchill published a full apology statement for her Islamophobic statements against her. In her apology she acknowledged that her tweet “play[ed] into Islamophobic tropes”, and admitted that she was wrong to make “racist and misogynist comments” regarding Ms. Sarkar’s appearance and sex life. Burchill “unreservedly and unconditionally” apologised for her “hurtful and unaccept[able]” comments. She further states: “I do not believe, have never believed and never intended to make any allegation that Ms Sarkar is a promoter, supporter and/or sympathiser of Islamists or fundamentalist terrorism or to suggest that Ms Sarkar condones paedophilia in any way.” Burchill asked her social media followers to further share her apology.

She also added in her apology that she is to pay “substantial damages” and would never contact Ms Sarkar unless for legal reasons.

On the conclusion of her case, Ms Sarkar felt relieved and said: “I’m relieved that the Sunday Telegraph columnist Julie Burchill has apologised for claims made about me last December which she admits were defamatory and play into Islamophobic tropes. We should expect a writer at a national newspaper to uphold a basic commitment to honesty. But Burchill subjected me to days of relentless harassment and abuse (including making the absurd and false claim that I worship a paedophile) all because I’m Muslim. She also added: “It’s vital that we have an honest conversation about the nastier aspects of our media culture, and try and make it better for everyone.”

Ms Sarkar’s solicitor, Zillur Rahman calls this case a resounding victory, added: “I am delighted for Ash, it really is a resounding victory. As a Muslim myself, this case meant more because of the grossly offensive comment made concerning Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him), who is dear to all Muslims.

Burchill’s book, Welcome to the Woke Trials: How #Identity Killed Progressive Politics, was due to be published by Hachette division Little, Brown in March but was dropped.

The publisher Hachette said that Burchills comments were ‘not defensible from a moral or intellectual standpoint’ and had ‘crossed a line with regard to race and religion’.

A Twitter account which was active several years ago under Julie Burchill’s name @JulieBurchill has been suspended by Twitter.  Burchill’s followers mentioned her using this account on multiple tweets. But Julie Burchill called it a fake account, as she is currently using a different user name on Twitter.

This is not the first time Julie expresses such a racist comment. In fact, she has a history of racist and defamatory statements. Since beginning of her career in 1970s, Burchill has been described as “enfant terrible of British Journalism”.