The BBC has paid more than £400,000 to a Jewish producer who said she was the victim of antisemitism while employed at the corporation.
Lucie Kon, a former commissioning editor for the BBC’s Storyville documentary strand, alleged a colleague told her Zionists were “evil” in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attacks.
The producer claimed colleagues told her that a proposed documentary about the 1,195 people killed at the Nova music festival, which she pitched in November 2023, should “contextualise” the attack by Hamas and empathise with what had driven the perpetrators.
Allegations and grievance
Ms Kon alleged she was told she could not oversee this documentary because as a Jewish person she would struggle to be impartial and had “skin in the game”. She set up a Jewish staff group soon after this.
In January 2024, Ms Kon said her complaints became a formal grievance and by March she was told not to go into the office.
Ms Kon said BBC staff underwent compulsory antisemitism training in 2025 which took place online and which she felt was inadequate. She contrasted it with the killing of George Floyd in 2020, when she said BBC staff were told to go into the office for meetings with “colleagues of colour”.
Training and redundancy
Ms Kon told the Press Association news agency: “To be honest, training is a waste of time. It’s really easy to cheat. It kind of needs to be done face to face.
“After George Floyd, even though it was during Covid, we were all asked to go into the office.
“I was working on Panorama at that time, and we were told to go into the office and to sit down and listen to our colleagues of colour about what it was like being them. It was really powerful.
“We’re obviously not the same because I’m not wearing it. It’s not the same because people can’t see I’m a Jew.
“I wear a Star of David around my neck now because I don’t think I have anything to be ashamed of.”
Ms Kon was put at risk of redundancy in January 2025 as part of a restructuring process and was unsuccessful in applying for a similar role in the new structure later that year. She was made redundant in April 2026 and felt “pretty devastated” to be leaving the corporation and was “trying really hard to hold myself together”.
Settlement and response
Ms Kon initiated unfair dismissal proceedings and has now reached a settlement with the BBC. In an interview with The Telegraph, she said: “The BBC isn’t full of antisemites, but it does have a problem with antisemitism.”
A BBC spokesperson said: “We are grateful that Ms Kon acknowledges that the BBC is not institutionally antisemitic.
“The BBC processes did not uphold any of Ms Kon’s allegations of antisemitism.
“However, the outcome did acknowledge there were shortcomings, and the personal impact on Ms Kon.
“We would like to acknowledge that Ms Kon was a valued member of staff with many years of dedicated service to the BBC.”
In a previous statement, the broadcaster said “antisemitism in any form is not tolerated at the BBC”, adding: “If allegations or concerns are raised, they are taken seriously and investigated in accordance with our policies.
“We have robust procedures in place to deal with any behaviour that is contrary to our values.”
The BBC said it worked closely with experts from the Antisemitism Policy Trust (APT) and Community Security Trust (CST), as well as its own Jewish Staff Network, to develop its antisemitism training. It is understood the BBC considered its duty of care to Ms Kon throughout what is regarded as a complex process.
The BBC announced proposals to reduce Storyville commissions by 20% per year in January 2025. This led to proposals for a new structure, consisting of a head of Storyville and assistant commissioner, with the existing roles on the team being closed. It was adopted in July 2025.
A documentary commissioned by Ms Kon, Mr Nobody Against Putin, won best documentary feature film at the Academy Awards. The 2024 documentary We Will Dance Again about the Nova music festival attack, which she executive produced, won an Emmy Award for outstanding current affairs documentary.
Former BBC director-general Tim Davie announced in November that he would resign after the corporation faced a string of scandals including breaching Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code for airing the documentary Gaza: How To Survive and failing to disclose the 13-year old narrator’s links to Hamas, and livestreaming Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury set, during which the punk duo led a chant of “death, death to the IDF” (Israel Defence Forces).
A leaked impartiality memo also accused the BBC’s Arabic service of bias in its coverage of Israel. Mr Davie emailed staff last year telling them that they had to complete two training modules, one on antisemitism and one on Islamophobia.
According to the corporation, the e-learning modules were produced by the BBC Academy and designed for BBC staff to focus on workplace culture and address “all forms of discrimination”. Staff had six months to complete the compulsory training.
Mr Davie left the corporation in April and was replaced by former Google boss Matt Brittin.
