Countdown’s Rachel Riley Apologises For ‘Ambiguous’ Tweet About Sydney Mall Stabbing
Riley faced backlash for her commentary online. (Photo by Grant Pollard/Invision/AP)
Countdown host Rachel Riley apologised for a controversial now-deleted tweet linking a violent attack in a Sydney shopping mall to pro-Palestinian protests in response to the Israel-Hamas war.
Riley, best known for her role on Channel 4’s maths-centric quiz show, faced calls that she be sacked after being accused of Islamophobia.
The attack at Bondi Junction mall in Sydney on Saturday left six dead and several injured, including a baby, before the attacker was shot dead by police. Online speculation then began that the rampage was an Islamist attack, a claim pushed by right-wing activists and commentators like TalkTV’s Julia Hartley-Brewer. New South Wales Police later identified the perpetrator as 40-year-old Joel Cauchi of Queensland, who suffered from mental illness but had “no ideological motivation.”
Responding to the incident, Riley wrote: “For six months now, people have been out on our streets proudly calling for the ‘Intifada Revolution’. If you want to know what ‘Globalised Intifada’ looks like, see the Sydney Mall.”
She continued: “Five victims stabbed to death and eight transferred to hospital, including a baby, due to one man and a knife. In the second intifada over 1,000 Israelis were murdered in restaurants, on buses and in the streets by suicide bombings, stabbings, stoning, lynching, shooting rockets. The youngest victim was just nine hours old. Sydney mall, multiple times over is what they’ve been proudly calling for.”
The commentary drew heavy criticism online, with some calling for her immediate dismissal.
Amid backlash, on Sunday, Riley issued a further tweet: “Just to clarify, my intention with this tweet was not to say this attack was caused by any ideation or to link it to Islamic extremism… At the time we did not know who the attacker was, and as such I made no reference.” She continued her desire to highlight “weekly calls for ‘intifada’ being tolerated in London and around the world, which in actuality means violence on our streets.”
In an additional tweet posted late Sunday, highlighting the more general intent behind her tweet. Riley said: “I’m sorry to those I offended. My post was ambiguous and although it was genuinely designed to call out calls for violence, it wasn’t the right place or time which made it easier to misinterpret, and I apologise.”
A Channel 4 spokesperson told The Independent that the network has reminded Riley of her “obligations as a contributor to Channel 4 programming.”
