Former BBC star Jameela Jamil has sparked an angry backlash after labelling British people as “truly the most evil” in history. The former Radio 1 host pointed to Britain’s history of empire and colonialism as the basis for her belief as she dismissed positive perceptions of the country from around the world.
Jamil's comments on her podcast
Speaking on her podcast, Jameela Jamil: UNFILTERED about her time on The Good Place, the former BBC Radio 1 host said: "I'm so lucky to have been part of that show. It was so well-written, and Megan Amram, who is one of the lead writers on that show, just wrote the s*** out of Tahini, so together we all crafted her."
"But I just had to make her a bit more of a b*tch, they wanted her to be very sweet. Americans think British people are so sweet, which is so crazy because British people are truly the most evil people in history. They are Thanos. Britain is Thanos. They owe 43 trillion to India. We colonise the world."
Online backlash and defenders
The comments provoked an angry reaction online, with users rushing to X to criticise the tv personality’s criticism of the UK. Piers Morgan led the calls, suggesting that Ms Jamil might consider relocating to another country if she feels so passionate about Britain’s evilness. He said: “Excellent.. then obviously, Ms Jamil will no longer wish to grace us with her graceless presence.”
Broadcaster Darren Grimes leapt to the country’s defence, listing historic achievements that continue to benefit the world at large. He said: “Britain gave the world the Industrial Revolution, took on massive national debt to abolish the global slave trade, stood alone against fascism, and built modern parliamentary democracy.
“Yet Jameela Jamil is in Hollywood telling Americans that British people are ‘truly the most evil people in history.’ The self-loathing, metropolitan liberal elite never cease to amaze. Absolute disgrace.”
Political commentator Narinder Kaur defended the comments, listing alleged atrocities that remain heavily debated by historians to this day. She said: “The racist abuse Jameela Jamil is getting for stating FACTS about the British Empire and the race riots we have seen recently in Britain is literally proving her point.
“Genuine question for everyone raging at Jameela Jamil: what exactly do you call engineering famine, two centuries of subjugation, and mass killings if not evil??? And I won't accept idiotic uneducated replies like 'the railways'.”
