Emily in Paris star Lucien Laviscount said ‘F*** the Tories’ when asked about Gary Lineker on the Oscars red carpet last night.
The outburst of swearing was sparked by Good Morning Britain reporter Noel Phillips asking the 30-year-old British actor for his thoughts on the dispute.
Phillips also flicked his middle finger towards the camera during the outburst, prompting the producers to pixelate the footage.
Lineker also received an endorsement from American musician Nile Rogers, who said of the fight: ‘If in any way caring about people offends someone, you know what I say? It’s not good for TV.
Lineker could return to our screens over the weekend after BBC bosses came closer to resolving the crisis sparked by his anti-conservative tweets.
Lucien Laviscount cursed and flashed his middle finger when asked about the Gary Lineker fight last night
The corporation’s CEO, Tim Davie, flew back to Britain yesterday ahead of crisis talks with the star presenter.
Lineker refused to think about her future as she walked her dog in southwest London yesterday.
But last night, Sky News reported that sources close to Lineker said they are “increasingly confident” that the dispute will be resolved “to their satisfaction” within the next 24 hours.
It marks a major victory for the former England captain, the BBC’s highest-paid star at £1.35m a year, over the BBC’s £5.3bn a year in the crisis sparked by his anti-Conservative tweets.
The row saw Match of the Day and Match of the Day 2 reduced to short shows with no hosts, pundits, commentators, or their famous tune.
On-screen talent, including former England strikers Alan Shearer and Ian Wright, refused to appear in “solidarity” with Lineker. There was even a pro-Lineker protest outside the BBC in Salford.
To end the dispute, the BBC is expected to be forced to launch a review of its guidelines on impartiality for independent presenters like Lineker, 62.
Lineker 1 – BBC 0: Gary, pictured walking his dog in south-west London yesterday, is said to be “increasingly confident” that the BBC is offering him a deal to his “satisfaction” to get him back on TV
BBC Director General Tim Davie, pictured here in an interview with Nomia Iqbal yesterday, has denied he will resign over the dispute. The prime minister refused yesterday to give him his confidence
The ‘ambiguities’ in the presenter’s contract mean the corporation fears it may not be able to force him to follow its rules, which prohibit staff members from making political comments. Lawyers are said to have advised the BBC that he could not be fired without a multimillion-dollar payday.
Lineker may make some sort of apology and is said to have agreed to be more careful with his tweets in future amid ‘a horrible overhaul’ of his social media guidelines, The times reports.
Tim Davie’s own future could be in doubt after he came under fire for his handling of the matter. Rishi Sunak did not want to know if she retains confidence in him or in BBC chairman Richard Sharp.
The BBC is currently due to broadcast two of the four FA Cup games this weekend, including the long-awaited tie between Premier League side Brighton and giant-killing minnows Grimsby Town, but the interruption of its football coverage from the Friday has called this into question.
Mr. Lineker will host one of those shows, not the match-of-the-day highlights show this weekend, according to reports.
And in a sign of a thaw in the dispute, a BBC spokesman said: “We are working hard on a resolution and hope to have him back with us as soon as possible.”
A BBC source told the Telegraph that things are “moving quickly”, adding: “Tim Davie has made it clear that he wants to resolve the situation and see the MOTD presenter back on the air.”
“Gary and his representatives have been in talks for several days and are ongoing.”
Protesters gather outside the BBC’s main sports studio in Salford to show their support for Gary Lineker.
Saturday’s day game was cut to just 20 minutes in length as presenters, staff and commentators refused to come to work in support of Lineker.
Lineker was seen in public for the first time yesterday after Match of the Day aired without him the night before.
Lineker, 62, was taken off the air by the organization’s bosses on Friday after he criticized the government’s anti-illegal immigration bill, prompting a strike by colleagues.
It comes after BBC chief Tim Davie flew back from the US yesterday in an attempt to defuse a dispute that affected the corporation’s sports coverage this weekend.
There is “hope for a resolution soon, but not all issues are ‘fully resolved’ at this stage,” BBC News said.
A source added: “Both parties have been working on something that will satisfy the BBC’s concerns and allow Gary to get back on the air.” Things are going in the right direction.
The BBC’s top brass are said to fear they will not be able to sack the former England striker, or force him to follow a social media policy, due to ambiguities in his contract.
Instead, top officials believe they would be forced to pay millions if Lineker were fired and are likely to lose any legal claims he may subsequently bring. the independent reports.
Lineker is said to have a 24-month contract negotiated prior to Davie’s arrival.
And despite Davie repeatedly stressing the importance of fairness, Lineker’s contract was not updated.
Meanwhile, presenters, pundits and commentators have refused to appear at an act of solidarity, with Match of the Day 2 airing last night without a presenter and lasting just 14 minutes. An apology was made to viewers before the show.
A continuity announcer said: “Now on BBC One, sorry we can’t show our normal Match Of The Day 2 including commentary tonight, but this is the best action from today’s Premier League matches.”
Colleagues, including Mark Chapman (pictured), have refused to participate in Match of the Day and MOTD2 following Lineker’s suspension.
It comes after Radio 5 Live’s Match of the Day and Fighting Talk were also severely cut on Saturday.
Sources told Sky News that Lineker is increasingly confident that the dispute will be resolved “to his satisfaction” within the next 24 hours.
The presenter has refused to apologize for his comments but was uncharacteristically quiet this morning, telling reports he “can’t say anything” about the situation that has threatened to engulf the BBC.
Last night its CEO, Davie, apologized to viewers for the impact it has had on scheduled programming, but denied he was resigning, adding that he wanted Lineker back on the air as soon as possible. It is understood that he returned to base at Broadcasting House yesterday.
Davie had been in Washington DC, in the United States, when the dispute began late last week, and is believed to have returned to discuss the crisis with one of his highest-paid employees.
On Friday night he said: “We are working very hard to resolve the situation and make sure the show gets back on the air.”
I don’t want to go into too much detail about the discussion. Gary Lineker is an excellent broadcaster, the best in the business, that’s not up for debate. He is an exceptional broadcaster and success for me is getting Gary back on the air.’
On Sunday, Lineker refused to answer questions from reporters and photographers outside his south-west London home, as the dispute over comments he made on the government’s anti-illegal immigration bill continues.
His appearance comes after he stopped filing his duties for last night’s MOTD, and the show was severely cut to 20 minutes, with no analysis or commentary as pundits and broadcasters refused to appear in solidarity with him.
Uncertainty over the show grew yesterday after main presenter Mark Chapman took a leave of absence from his BBC radio duties and Jermain Defoe announced he had withdrawn from appearing as a pundit on the highlights show.
Defoe tweeted: ‘Always a great privilege to work with BBC MOTD. But tomorrow I have made the decision to retire from my expert duties.
The show’s commentators also walked out, with veteran microphone Guy Mowbray tweeting: ‘Like yesterday, there won’t be a ‘normal’ MOTD(2) show tonight. The scheduled commentary team is in full agreement with our colleagues at BBC Sport. We hope a solution can be found as soon as possible.’
The Women’s Super League match was broadcast as scheduled on BBC1, but there was no pre-match or half-time coverage, and the commentary was taken from the WSL world broadcast rather than using Beeb’s in-house audio equipment.
However, there was no such interruption during the channel’s coverage of the Six Nations, with Gabby Logan presenting yesterday’s game between Scotland and Ireland as scheduled.
Before commentary for the two scheduled Premier League games began this afternoon on Radio 5 Live, commentator Alistair Bruce-Ball said: “I want to reiterate what we said before our football coverage yesterday.
I know you will all appreciate that this is a difficult time for BBC Sport and everyone who works in the department, and we hope that everything will be resolved as soon as possible.
It has been a very difficult decision to make personally, I can assure you that it has not been taken lightly, but I am a member of staff at the BBC, I am a radio commentator for this station and, like yesterday, we are here to provide our football service to you, our audience.’
