Key facts
- Rhodri Talfan Davies, the BBC's deputy director general, met the broadcaster's Jewish staff network on Tuesday, November 3, 2026.
- The BBC paid Lucie Kon, a former Storyville commissioning editor, £400,000 after her departure.
- The BBC said its internal processes did not uphold Kon's antisemitism claims but acknowledged "shortcomings, and the personal impact" on her.
- Talfan Davies said he did not believe an independent inquiry into antisemitism at the BBC was necessary.
- Some MPs and former BBC figures, including Danny Shaw, have called for an independent inquiry.
- Talfan Davies said the payout "didn't relate to findings of antisemitism in the investigation."
Rhodri Talfan Davies, the BBC's deputy director general, met representatives of the broadcaster's Jewish staff network on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, after a former producer said she had faced antisemitism while employed at the corporation. The staff group is understood to have requested the meeting following coverage of the case of Lucie Kon, a former commissioning editor for the BBC's Storyville documentary series.
The BBC paid Kon £400,000 after her departure. Kon said she faced antisemitism after the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas. The BBC said its internal processes did not uphold her antisemitism claims but acknowledged "shortcomings, and the personal impact" on her. In an interview, Kon said: "The BBC isn't full of antisemites, but it does have a problem with antisemitism."
Her case has prompted calls for an independent inquiry from some MPs and former BBC figures including Danny Shaw, a former home affairs correspondent. Talfan Davies did not accept that an independent inquiry was needed. He pointed to new staff training on antisemitism and internal efforts to build an inclusive culture at the BBC. He is understood to have written to some Jewish staff members after media coverage of Kon's case.
Speaking at a Broadcasting Press Guild lunch in London, Talfan Davies said: "Of course in any large organisation there can be instances of discrimination, which you deal with when they arise, but there is no evidence of any systemic issue within the BBC that would merit anything like that." He added: "I don't believe there is institutional discrimination of any sort in the BBC, but I think as an organisation you always have to look harder and review how you go about identifying issues, and that work is never done."
Talfan Davies said the BBC had "taken enormous steps" to improve its workplace culture, including mandatory training and implementing the results of a recent review focused on "calling out bad behaviour." He said: "I don't recognise a description of the BBC as in any way institutionally discriminatory." He added that coverage of the previous two weeks would have been difficult for Jewish colleagues and that the corporation needed to support them.
Asked about the size of Kon's payout, Talfan Davies said he could not comment further for legal reasons, but said: "It didn't relate to findings of antisemitism in the investigation." The BBC has not explained the size of the payment.
The issue has provided an early test for Talfan Davies, who was given the deputy role to spot the kinds of crises that led to the resignation of the previous director general, Tim Davie. Those crises included disputes over the BBC's Middle East coverage. The corporation apologised last year after a documentary about children in Gaza failed to disclose that its child narrator was the son of a Hamas official. It was also criticised for dropping another documentary about medics in Gaza after concluding it "risked creating a perception of partiality"; the program was later shown by Channel 4.