Editing Giles Coren (section)

==Controversies==

===Leaked e-mail to subeditors===
 
On 23 July 2008, ''[[The Guardian]]''{{'s}} media blog published an email from Coren to sub-editors at ''The Times''. Coren's internal ''Times'' email used [[profanity]], the use of which he defends,<ref>{{cite news |last=Coren |first=Giles |date=1 October 2008|title=Potty-mouthed and proud |work= The Spectator|volume= 308|issue=9397 |page=20 |url=http://www.spectator.co.uk/2008/10/pottymouthed-and-proud/ |access-date=22 August 2016}}</ref> to take issue with a colleague's removal of an [[indefinite article]] (an "a") from his piece, which he believed ruined a joke in his last line. Coren said a joke was lost in the change from "a nosh" (meaning [[fellatio]]) to "nosh"—a word derived from [[Yiddish]] meaning "food", which he doubted his editors knew better than he.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/jul/23/mediamonkey |title=Read Giles Coren's letter to Times subs |work=The Guardian | author = Media Monkey |date=23 July 2008 |access-date=30 September 2008 }}</ref> ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' said the incident was "not the first time the critic has been caught out writing abusive emails to colleagues".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2455076/Restaurant-reviewer-Giles-Coren-abuses-colleagues-in-leaked-email.html |title=Restaurant reviewer Giles Coren abuses colleagues in leaked email |date=24 July 2008 |access-date=30 September 2008 |work =The Telegraph |last=Moore |first=Matthew }}</ref> The exchange was reprinted in the American magazine ''[[Harper's Magazine|Harper's]]'' in October 2008.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.harpers.org/archive/2008/10/0082195 |title=The joke is gone |date=October 2008 |access-date=18 November 2010 |magazine =Harper's Magazine}}{{subscription required}}</ref>

===Polish controversy===

In his next article, dated 26 July 2008, Coren said his [[History of the Jews in Poland|Jewish ancestors had been persecuted by Poles]]. He stated that Poles used to burn Jews in synagogues for entertainment at Easter; and that Poland is in denial about [[Collaboration in German-occupied Poland#The Holocaust|its role in the Holocaust]]. He referred to [[Polish British|immigrant Poles]] as "[[Polack]]s", arguing that "if England is not the [[Promised Land|land of milk and honey]] it appeared to them three or four years ago, then, frankly, they can clear off out of it".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/giles_coren/article4399669.ece |title=Two waves of immigration, Poles apart |last=Coren |first=Giles |work= The Times|date=26 July 2008 |access-date=30 September 2008}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{subscription required}}</ref>

Coren's comments led to a complaint to the [[Press Complaints Commission]],<ref>{{cite news |last=Conlan |first=Tara |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/aug/08/pressandpublishing.thetimes |title=Giles Coren Times article prompts Polish complaints to PCC |work=The Guardian |date=8 August 2008 |access-date=30 September 2008}}</ref> an [[early day motion]] in the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]],<ref>[http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=36946&SESSION=891 Early day motion 2529 – Press Complaints Commission and Giles Coren] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100805031238/http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=36946&SESSION=891 |date=5 August 2010 }} UK Parliament, 19 November 2008</ref> and a critical editorial in ''[[The Economist]].''<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id=11918619 |title=Unacceptable prejudice |newspaper=The Economist |date=14 August 2008 |access-date=6 January 2009}}</ref> Coren responded: "I wrote in passing that the Poles remain in denial about their responsibility for the Holocaust. How gratifying, then, to see so many letters in ''The Times'' in the subsequent days from Poles denying their [[responsibility for the Holocaust]]."<ref name="times20080802">{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/giles_coren/article4445423.ece |title=The winner's version of history. That's original |work=The Times|last=Coren |first=Giles |date=2 August 2008 |access-date=30 September 2008}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{subscription required}}</ref> He also told ''[[The Jewish Chronicle]]'': "Fuck the Poles".<ref>{{cite news | url = http://thejc.thejc.com/articles/coren-launches-his-own-assault-poland | title = Coren launches his own assault on Poland | work = The Jewish Chronicle | date = 14 August 2008 | first = Candice | last = Krieger | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://archive.today/20120716134323/http://thejc.thejc.com/articles/coren-launches-his-own-assault-poland | archive-date = 16 July 2012 | df = dmy-all }}<!-- "Fuck", not "F***" because, as the ''Chronicle'' article says, "although his version did not include asterisks" (and [[WP:F***]]) --></ref> After the Press Complaints Commission rejected their complaint because the criticism had been of a group rather than an individual, the [[Federation of Poles in Great Britain]] (FPGB) lodged a complaint with the [[European Court of Human Rights]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/poles-take-coren-fight-european-court |title=Poles take Coren fight to European Court |first=Jan |last=Shure |work=The Jewish Chronicle|date=5 March 2009| access-date=26 September 2010}}</ref>

Professor Gábor Halmai of the EU [[Fundamental Rights Agency]] said "I completely share the criticisms" of the piece made by ''The Economist''. He said that amid an internal debate about an FRA response, a colleague had said "it is not even certain that what Coren stated with regard to his past had taken place at all". Halmai responded that while the generalisation used by Coren was unacceptable, it was protected under freedom of expression, conceding the existence of the Jedwabne, Krakow and  Kielce pogroms. <ref>[http://fundamentum.hu/sites/default/files/08-e-07.pdf] The Neighbours’ Fear. Anti-Semitism in Poland Before and After World War II. Fundamentum, English Edition, 5/2008. 82-87, Gábor Halmai</ref>

===Mediawatch complaint over Twitter posting===
On 14 January 2010, Coren attracted criticism after he posted on his Twitter [[Web feed|feed]]: "Next door have bought their 12-year-old son a drum kit. For fuck's sake! Do I kill him then burn it? Or do I fuck him, then kill him then burn it?" Vivienne Pattison, director of watchdog [[Mediawatch UK]], condemned the remark as "very bad taste".<ref name=tirade>{{cite news |url=http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23794706-giles-corens-twitter-tirade-at-neighbours-boy-for-playing-drum-kit.do |title=Giles Coren's Twitter tirade at neighbour's boy for playing drum kit |work=<!-- Full title since 2009. -->London Evening Standard |date=13 January 2010 |first=Mark |last=Prigg |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100116104919/http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23794706-giles-corens-twitter-tirade-at-neighbours-boy-for-playing-drum-kit.do |archive-date=16 January 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=What makes Coren so cross? |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/what-makes-coren-so-cross-1986723.html |access-date=30 April 2019 |work=The Independent |date=30 May 2010}}</ref> Coren later posted: "Oh hell's bells. Look, can I just say I didn't kill the kid, or have sex with him. And anyway he's not real. And I live in Vienna."<ref name=tirade/>

===Privacy injunction and alleged contempt of court===
{{See also|2011 British privacy injunctions controversy}}
On 13 May 2011, Coren attracted controversy after joking about a [[gag order|privacy injunction]] by posting on his Twitter account: "god, ANOTHER injunction tonight. another footballer. and SUCH a boring one. fucking shit midfielder... he's yet another very ugly married man who's been carrying on with a gold-digging flopsie he should have seen coming a MILE away". Then on 14 May he tweeted "[[Gareth Barry]] looks remarkably relaxed when you consider that... first touch for Gareth Barry... not according to what I've heard... time for a bet. what chance Barry to score? tiny fiver on barry to score at 22–1. wdv been nice to get a double with Giggs in the match before... Barry's been pulled off...". This was later deleted but was archived.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/jimwaterson/status/72247272087367680|title=How bizarre!|author=Jim Waterson|publisher=Twitter| access-date=25 May 2011 | date=22 May 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.information-britain.co.uk/tweeters.php?offset%3D26%26user%3D47583067|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526145231/http://www.information-britain.co.uk/tweeters.php?offset=26&user=47583067|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 May 2011|title=Giles Coren on Twitter (archived)|access-date=23 May 2011}}</ref>

On 22 May 2011, it was reported that lawyers at [[Schillings]] acting for an [[England national football team|England footballer]] had persuaded the [[High Court of Justice|High Court]] judge [[Michael Tugendhat|Mr. Justice Tugendhat]] to ask the [[Attorney General for England and Wales]], [[Dominic Grieve]], to consider the criminal prosecution of "a top journalist" over a matter that breached a privacy injunction.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/8530076/Journalist-could-be-jailed-over-Twitter-comments-about-injunctions.html|title=Journalist could be jailed over Twitter comments about injunctions| work=The Daily Telegraph|first=Martin|last=Evans |date= 23 May 2011 | access-date=23 May 2011}}</ref> Coren acknowledged on Twitter that he could face jail for [[contempt of court]], saying: "A funny fucking day. The support of twitter has been almost tear-jerking. But I am afraid there won't be room for all of us in the cell. xxx."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/gilescoren/status/72405246630047744|title=A funny fucking day|author=Giles Coren|publisher=Twitter| access-date=23 May 2011 | date=22 May 2011}}</ref> On 23 May 2011, [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrat]] Member of Parliament [[John Hemming (politician)|John Hemming]] spoke in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] and used [[parliamentary privilege]] to identify Coren as the person involved, leading to an immediate rebuke from [[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker of the House of Commons]] [[John Bercow]].<ref name=bercow>{{cite news|url=http://www.buckinghamtoday.co.uk/news/business/bercow_at_centre_of_giggs_naming_controversy_1_2707730|work=Buckingham Advertiser|publisher=Johnston Publishing|title=Bercow at centre of Giggs naming controversy|date=24 May 2011|access-date=25 May 2011|archive-date=30 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110530081839/http://www.buckinghamtoday.co.uk/news/business/bercow_at_centre_of_giggs_naming_controversy_1_2707730|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>Sky News [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWEEiz19LSI Giggs Named In Commons As Footballer Identified On Twitter In Context Of Injunctions] YouTube, 23 May 2011</ref> In an interview with ''[[The Sunday Times]]'' on 29 May 2011, Hemming stated that he considered naming both footballers in the Coren controversy, before the Speaker stopped him. Hemming commented that the Speaker was "probably right to do so", and added: "I couldn't be guaranteed his family didn't know, whereas Giggs' name had been chanted on the terraces."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/john-hemming-try-beating-my-26-giggsy-783s20jrk85|title=John Hemming: Try beating my 26, Giggsy|work=[[The Sunday Times]]|author=Camilla Long|date=29 May 2011|access-date=23 April 2018}}</ref>

According to ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', the [[Premier League]] footballer identified by Coren in the tweets was not [[Ryan Giggs]], and was known in the privacy injunction by the pseudonym TSE.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/twitter/8532057/Giles-Coren-named-as-journalist-accused-of-breaking-an-injunction.html|title=Giles Coren named as journalist accused of breaking an injunction| work=The Telegraph|date= 23 May 2011 | access-date=25 May 2011}}</ref> The case at the [[High Court of Justice]] was ''TSE & ELP v News Group Newspapers Ltd'', with TSE being described as "a married footballer" who had been involved in an extra-marital relationship with a woman known as ELP. Neither person had wished ''[[The Sun (United Kingdom)|The Sun]]'' to publish the details of the relationship.<ref>{{cite BAILII |litigants=TSE & Anor v News Group Newspapers Ltd|court= EWHC |division=QB |year=2011 |num=1308 |date=19 May 2011 |courtname=auto |juris=England and Wales}}</ref> The injunction was granted on 13 May 2011 by Mr. Justice Tugendhat, who accepted claims from the footballer that publication of the details of the relationship "would provoke the cruel chants of supporters." Tugendhat said that aspects of the case had been published on "various electronic media, including Twitter", but added: "the fact that these publications have occurred does not mean that there should be no injunction in this case".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/twitter/8530757/Footballer-granted-injunction-to-avoid-boos-and-cruel-chants-at-Premier-League-games.html|title=Footballer granted injunction to avoid 'boos and cruel chants' at Premier League games|first=Gordon|last=Rayner| work=The Daily Telegraph|date= 23 May 2011 | access-date=25 May 2011}}</ref>

=== Accusations of misogyny against a journalist ===
In 2012, Coren responded to criticism from then ''[[HuffPost|Huffington Post]]'' journalist Alice Vincent with the words, "go fuck yourself, you barren old hag."<ref>{{Cite news |date=2012-05-19 |title=Just accept it Giles, your new baby has made you go all soft |language=en-GB |work=BelfastTelegraph.co.uk |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/just-accept-it-giles-your-new-baby-has-made-you-go-all-soft/28750705.html |access-date=2023-09-27 |issn=0307-1235}}</ref> Vincent had said a recent column by Coren about his newborn daughter was a "yawn" and "one step up from a mumsnet blogpost."<ref>{{Cite news |date=2012-05-19 |title=Just accept it Giles, your new baby has made you go all soft |language=en-GB |work=BelfastTelegraph.co.uk |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/just-accept-it-giles-your-new-baby-has-made-you-go-all-soft/28750705.html |access-date=2023-09-27 |issn=0307-1235}}</ref> Coren's response sparked accusations of [[misogyny]] and [[sexism]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cuddeford |first=Callum |date=2021-11-30 |title=Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby: Giles Coren's famous TV presenter sister |url=https://www.mylondon.news/news/tv/amazing-hotels-giles-coren-life-22314090 |access-date=2023-09-27 |website=MyLondon |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-05-14 |title=Diary: How sandwich celebrations were left with a bitter taste |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/diary/diary-how-sandwich-celebrations-were-left-with-a-bitter-taste-a1965751.html |access-date=2023-09-27 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ditum |first=Sarah |date=2012-05-15 |title=Five steps to becoming a heavyweight Twitter fighter |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/may/15/five-steps-heavyweight-twitterfighter-giles-coren |access-date=2023-09-27 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

===Fake Polish Twitter account===

In December 2018, it was discovered that Giles Coren had an alternative Twitter account that "he once used to suggest people critical of him were motivated by [[antisemitism]]".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.indy100.com/article/giles-coren-twitter-alternative-account-pavel-pilnik-jonathan-nunn-wife-antisemitism-8703366|title=Giles Coren made a fake Polish Twitter account to send antisemitic message to critics|date=29 December 2018|website=indy100}}</ref> The account stated to be of a [[Polish plumber]] with a bio composed in broken English and Coren's book cover as avatar.<ref>{{Cite web|title="It gives you the freedom to be violent to other people": what has the alt account become?|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/science-tech/social-media/2019/01/how-alt-anonymous-account-became-mainstream-trend-what-is-anon|access-date=2020-09-03|date=24 January 2019 |website=www.newstatesman.com|language=en}}</ref>

===Tweets after the death of Dawn Foster===

In July 2021, following the death of the journalist [[Dawn Foster]], Coren tweeted the following:

{{cquote|"When someone dies who has trolled you on Twitter, saying vile and hurtful things about you and your family, is it okay to be like, 'I am sorry for the people who loved you, and any human death diminishes me, but, HA HA HA HA HA HA'?"<ref>{{Cite tweet |author=Giles Coren |user=gilescoren |number=1417458339894730770 |title=When someone dies who has trolled you on Twitter, saying vile and hurtful things about you and your family, is it okay to be like, "I'm sorry for the people who loved you, and any human death diminishes me, but, HA HA HA HA HA HA"? |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210720134712if_/https://twitter.com/gilescoren/status/1417458339894730770 |archive-date=July 20, 2021}}</ref>}}

An earlier version of this tweet included the words, "you can fuck off on to hell now where you belong" in place of, "HA HA HA HA HA HA".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/bbc-presenter-giles-coren-deletes-24583750 |title=BBC presenter Giles Coren deletes two 'sick' tweets mocking death after huge backlash |last=Hill |first=Rose |date=July 21, 2021 |work=Daily Mirror |access-date=July 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210721175053/https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/bbc-presenter-giles-coren-deletes-24583750 |archive-date=21 July 2021 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 

Both tweets were quickly deleted but were screen-grabbed and widely shared online.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/food-drink/article/family-ties-are-strangling-too-many-talented-youngsters-in-britain-pkfgqdc8z |title=Family ties are strangling too many talented youngsters in Britain|last=Syed|first=Matthew|date=July 25, 2021 |work=The Times|access-date=July 25, 2021}}</ref> There was speculation that Coren was upset because of a tweet Foster had written about him that read, "Giles Coren a prime example of how the “if I’ve heard of yer da, I don’t need to hear from you” rule holds for almost every man bar Jesus."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dawn Foster: a voice from the sharp end |url=https://www.redpepper.org.uk/dawn-foster-a-voice-from-the-sharp-end-journalist-tribute-friend/ |access-date=2023-10-13 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-07-24 |title=Giles Coren's home hit with graffiti and dog poo protest in row over 'sick' tweets - Mirror Online |website=[[Daily Mirror]] |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/giles-corens-home-hit-graffiti-24594294 |access-date=2023-10-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210724114050/https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/giles-corens-home-hit-graffiti-24594294 |archive-date=24 July 2021 }}</ref> Coren's comments stirred considerable controversy, with several figures in the media criticising him, and some calling for him to lose his jobs with ''The Times'' and [[Times Radio]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thenational.scot/news/19457975.giles-coren-slammed-sickening-comment-death-journalist-dawn-foster/ |title=Giles Coren slammed for 'sickening' comment after death of journalist Dawn Foster |last=Meighan |first=Craig |date=July 21, 2021 |publisher=The National |access-date=July 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210721133136/https://www.thenational.scot/news/19457975.giles-coren-slammed-sickening-comment-death-journalist-dawn-foster/ |archive-date=July 21, 2021}}</ref> The press regulator [[Independent Press Standards Organisation| IPSO]] received several complaints but took no action<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thenational.scot/news/19462738.complaints-ipso-giles-coren-accused-mocking-dawn-fosters-death/ |title=Complaints to IPSO after Giles Coren accused of mocking Dawn Foster's death |last=Nutt |first=Kathleen|date=July 22, 2021 |publisher=The National |access-date=July 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210722201953/https://www.thenational.scot/news/19462738.complaints-ipso-giles-coren-accused-mocking-dawn-fosters-death/ |archive-date=July 22, 2021}}</ref> and Coren's home in North London was daubed in graffiti paying tribute to Foster. It read: "Dawn Foster Forever".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/graffiti-giles-coren-death-dawn-foster-tweets-b947105.html |title=Giles Coren's home graffitied after he 'mocked journalist's death' |date=July 23, 2021 |publisher=The Evening Standard |access-date=July 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210722141427/https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/graffiti-giles-coren-death-dawn-foster-tweets-b947105.html |archive-date=22 July 2021}}</ref> Dog excrement was reportedly left at his property.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/giles-coren-journalist-dawn-foster-tweet-b1888721.html |title=Giles Coren's home is daubed with 'Dawn Foster Forever' after he was accused of mocking her death in tweets |last=Middleton|first=joe |date=July 23, 2021 |work=The Independent |access-date=July 24, 2021}}</ref>

=== Popeyes review controversy ===
In January 2022, ''The Times'' magazine published Coren's review of a new [[Popeyes]] branch in [[Stratford, London|Stratford]], East London. Coren wrote that "exploiters" of fried chicken recipes in chain restaurants had brought "obesity, sloth, waste, [and] high street degradation" to white communities. In the article Coren wrote: <blockquote>Isn't fried chicken, in a weird way, a form of race revenge? The thrusting young economies of West Africa now must surely look at a [[KFC]] bargain bucket and high-five themselves that their ancestors had the forethought, all those years ago, to provide the means by which white culture would one day poison itself to death.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Coren |first=Giles |title=Giles Coren reviews Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, London |newspaper=[[The Times]] |language=en |url=https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/food-drink/article/giles-coren-reviews-popeyes-louisiana-kitchen-london-3kths52sr |access-date=2022-08-02 |issn=0140-0460}}</ref></blockquote>''[[The Independent]]'''s Race Correspondent, [[Nadine White]], tweeted: "A review of the new London Popeyes restaurant in ''The Times''. Fried chicken = Black people = sloth, waste, degradation."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Haynes |first=Tom |date=2022-01-16 |title=Presenter Giles Coren accused of 'blatant racism' in review of London Popeyes' |url=https://www.mylondon.news/news/east-london-news/bbc-presenter-writer-giles-coren-22768912 |access-date=2022-08-02 |website=MyLondon |language=en}}</ref>