Oscar-winner Lucie Kon says BBC paid her £400k to settle antisemitism allegations

The British Broadcasting Corporation paid out a £400,000 ($533,770) settlement to Oscar-winning producer Lucie Kon after she threatened to sue for alleged racial and religious discrimination that led to her being dismissed.

The payment was made last month, Kon revealed in an interview with the Telegraph newspaper, published Monday, under the headline “The BBC broke me because I am a Jew.”

She told the newspaper that she was dismissed after raising her concerns about antisemitism following the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel that triggered the Gaza War.

Kon, who worked at the BBC for over 20 years, including stints as executive producer for its Storyville and Panorama shows, won an Emmy in 2025 for her role as an executive producer of the October 7 film “We Will Dance Again” about the Nova Music Festival, where Hamas terrorists massacred 360 people.

This year, she received an Oscar for her work on another documentary project, “Mr Nobody Against Putin.” Previously, in 2018, she produced a BBC documentary about antisemitism in Britain.

“My knowledge of my community, and my experience of studying in Israel was treated as something to be embraced,” she recalled of her year spent in the country.

But as the events of October 7 unfolded, Kon said she was immediately subjected to upsetting remarks from colleagues.

“I went from a BBC journalist who happened to be Jewish to a Jewish journalist at the BBC. It was like having Jew stamped on my forehead.”

She recalled how after October 7 she told a colleague that “Hamas were evil and the reply I got was, ‘So are Zionists’.”

One worker said to her, “Think about what drove Hamas to do what they did.”

Another colleague told her that when then-UK prime minister Rishi Sunak visited a Jewish school to show solidarity with the local community, they thought it was “disgusting that he’s taking sides.”

When she wanted to start work on the Nova documentary, one executive pushed back, saying she was “too partial” and had “skin in the game,” Kon said.

Another person stressed that the documentary needed to “contextualize” the Hamas attack.

She said that Jewish colleagues told her they also faced similar remarks from staff, including being called “Zios” and antisemitic comments.

Kon set up a support group for Jewish staff, which led to a meeting with then-director-general Tim Davie, who last November stepped down amid allegations of bias, including in coverage of the Gaza war. Among the subjects discussed was that the BBC should call October 7 a terrorist attack, which it refused to do.

At the time, a colleague told Kon, “If you want to call Hamas terrorists, you have to say that Israel is a terrorist state.”

In January 2024, Kon filed a formal grievance. Following a five-month probe, she was informed that the grievance was rejected, and an appeal was also unsuccessful. She said officials told her she was being too sensitive and offered her therapy.

The stress, she said, led to health issues, and she sought sick leave in January 2025, but just before she began it, human resources told her that restructuring meant her job was at risk. In April 2026, she was fired.

In a statement to the Telegraph, the BBC said, “While we do not comment on individual staffing matters, antisemitism in any form is not tolerated at the BBC.”

“If allegations or concerns are raised, they are taken seriously and investigated in accordance with our policies,” the statement said.

Though the BBC paid out, she said her request for a formal apology and a meeting with current Director-General Matt Brittin were denied.

“The BBC isn’t full of antisemitism, but it does have a problem with antisemitism,” Kon said. “My colleague came around this morning. He left because he found unbearable the things his colleagues were saying and the fact that people would talk in front of him about the ‘Zios’ in the office.”