Grierson Trust revokes Asif Kapadia's patronage amid antisemitism backlash

The Grierson Trust has revoked British filmmaker Asif Kapadia’s patronage following backlash over allegedly anti-Semitic social media posts, the organisation announced on Friday. While the statement did not specifically reference the Israel-Palestine conflict, media reports indicate that Kapadia's posts had been critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the military actions in Gaza.

Kapadia, who has received accolades including an Oscar and a BAFTA, has since deleted his account on the social media platform X and restricted public access to his Instagram. He is renowned for his documentaries, such as Senna, which chronicles the life of Brazilian motor-racing champion Ayrton Senna; Amy, which details the life of British singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse; and Diego Maradona, centred on the Argentine football legend.

The Grierson Trust, which promotes documentary filmmaking through the Grierson Awards and its training programme, Grierson DocLab, had appointed Kapadia as one of its new patrons alongside Louis Theroux and Dorothy Byrne on October 9. The Trust had hailed the role of patrons as vital in fostering a diverse documentary community.

However, the Trust’s board convened on Friday morning to address concerns about Kapadia's social media activity. “Since the Grierson Trust announced that Asif Kapadia had been appointed as one of our patrons, some social media posts shared by him have been drawn to our attention which are antisemitic. As a result, we took the decision to rescind his role as patron of the Trust,” they stated.

They expressed regret, acknowledging that when appointing Kapadia, the board was unaware of the posts, some of which are no longer accessible. “We are sorry that our due diligence was not thorough enough,” the Trust added. “Whilst we accept and support that everyone has a legitimate right to express their views on controversial issues, this cannot justify racist statements or behaviour.”