Manchester crisis comms expert Carla Speight took to Sky News last night to offer her thoughts on the latest Gary Lineker drama at the BBC – the regular football host and Match of the Day main presenter of 26 years’ standing finally parted company with the broadcaster yesterday following another row over his social media posts, this time a post about zionism that, unbeknownst to Lineker, he claimed, contained an antisemitic image.
Speight is a PR & talent manager who often deals with crisis coms – She has previously worked with global press regarding Snow White, Harry & Meghan, Kevin Spacey and Philip Schofield and many other PR/crisis topics.
She has also featured as a royal expert in The Sun, The Mail, The Mirror, The Star (US & UK versions) The Times, The Telegraph, iPaper, The Evening Standard and Magazines such as OK! Grazia, Hello. Television appearances have included Sky News, Talk TV, GB News, BBC, Jeremy Vine Show, Alexis Conran Show and also BBC Radio.
Now she’s turned her attention to Lineker’s antisemitism apology, and his decision to leave the BBC’s Match of The Day saying that he should have learned from his previous mistakes.
It wasn’t all bad news, however. Speight praised the host for taking control of the narrative before reactions on social media came flooding in, and said his apology seemed sincere, as did his claim of ignorance, noting that not many people would be that brave, and suggested that he will survive the latest comms crisis:
“My initial thought on this is that he should have learned from the last time he shared an opinion, also as a presenter, he should have voiced his opinions personally, rather than sharing a post in a quick reaction,” she said.
“That said, he will survive this. Many streaming platforms would snap him up, such as TnT, Sky Sports, even Amazon, if they look to renew their contract with Gary as the key presenter, they’re likely to draw in Match of the Day viewers.
“Given the volume of high-profile support he got during the last social media debacle, and now the many big names coming out to support him this time round, he’s likely to be seen as hot property, so long as he thinks before he posts.
“The key to this, is that he had no intent to upset anyone when he posted and whilst he wasn’t in full view of the facts, such as the emojis’ meaning, he didn’t upset or target anyone in particular with the post. Though he faces a point now that he needs to think before he posts.
It’s not a PR disaster, as he’s taking control of the narrative before the disaster strikes with the video. I think he will have agreed the wording carefully with the BBC, warning them he will have to post or speak publicly, given the reaction last time. It makes total sense for him to take control of the narrative like this and I’m sure what comes next will have clauses attached.”
Speight also advised that Lineker should have thought about what he was sharing online before doing so, with his decades of experience being in the eye of the media, should be media trained, and should know better – and the BBC and his teams should have taught him better how to manage his social media platforms.
