BBC News Anchor Maryam Moshiri is making headlines for all the wrong reasons.
This is after she was caught off guard showing her middle finger to the camera just seconds before reading the news bulletin at the top of the hour.
Many social media users have criticized her for the action, which many think was actually directed to her viewers.
“Maryam Moshiri @BBCMaryamreally did give the middle finger to the licence payers,” an X user reacted to the video of the blunder that is now making rounds on social media.
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Moshiri has however come out to issue an apology on the same, explaining why she was captured in the awkward moment.
“Hey everyone , yesterday just before the top of the hour I was joking around a bit with the team in the gallery. I was pretending to count down as the director was counting me down from 10-0.. including the fingers to show the number. So from 10 fingers held up to one. When we got to 1 I turned finger around as a joke and did not realise that this would be caught on camera.
“It was a private joke with the team and I’m so sorry it went out on air! It was not my intention for this to happen and I’m sorry if I offended or upset anyone. I wasn’t ‘ flipping the bird’ at viewers or even a person really. It was a silly joke that was meant for a small number of my mates,” the journalist said in statement on X.
Hey everyone , yesterday just before the top of the hour I was joking around a bit with the team in the gallery.
I was pretending to count down as the director was counting me down from 10-0.. including the fingers to show the number. So from 10 fingers held up to one.
When…
— Maryam Moshiri (@BBCMaryam) December 7, 2023