Maryam Moshiri: Who is the BBC presenter who flipped her middle finger live on air?

When doing live television things are bound to go wrong. We all love those candid moments as they tend to humanise the people on our screens. However, there is a funny candid moment and a slightly offensive, baffling candid moment.

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Unfortunately for her, Maryam Moshiri falls into the latter category. Viewers of BBC News were very surprised when her show opened with her having her middle finger proudly up. Since then, the clip has gone viral and is becoming an internet meme. So, let’s have a look at who Maryam Moshiri is.

Who is Maryam Moshiri?

Maryam Moshiri is a BBC presenter, specifically she presents on BBC News Channel which broadcasts worldwide. Moshiri joined the BBC in 2003 after working in radio. She is known for her business analysis and was the Business News anchor for famous shows like Talking Business.

In 2023, she shifted her work to broader horizons. She became chief presenter for the BBC’s new news channel. She also hosted the channel’s coverage of the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest.

Moshiri has a BA in Italian as well as a Postgraduate Diploma in Broadcast Journalism. She is married and has three children.

An embarrassing moment at an unfortunate time

As you can imagine, such a surprising event on the BBC was bound to make the rounds. Instantly, the image of Maryam Moshiri flicking someone off went viral. Unfortunately the more than candid moment occurs at a time when the BBC is in the midst of controversy.

Indeed, its licence fee is being challenged. On Monday 4 December, Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer warned the channel that an increase in its licence fee must remain ‘appropriate’ in the midst of a cost of living crisis.

According to Sky News, BBC’s licence fee is set to ‘to increase by 9% or £15 to £173.30 in April.’ In the time of free information everywhere, the BBC’s licence fee appears to be an anomaly and is constantly challenged. It also doesn’t help that the channel has been caught in many scandals concerning its presenters which provide more fuel to the BBC’s detractors.

On X, comments about Maryam Moshiri’s middle finger incident are proof of it. Some posts read:

This isn’t satire, an actual BBC News presenter got caught giving the middle finger live.

Maryam Moshiri summing up the professionalism currently at the BBC.

Maryam Moshiri @BBCMaryam really did give the middle finger to the licence payers.

Maryam Moshiri shows us how to destroy your career in second, while saying fuck you to the ppl that watch the BBC and pay her wages. Back at you love.

On 7 December Maryam Moshiri issued on apology on X in which she explains how the incident happened.

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.