'Absolute disgrace': Executive producer Leo Pearlman rebukes the BBC over Gaza documentary

20 February 2025, 08:25

Executive TV producer Leo Pearlman has rebuked the BBC over their controversial Gaza documentary.

Leo Pearlman, Executive TV Producer, told Nick Ferrari he thinks the BBC is an "absolute disgrace".

Pearlman said: "The BBC as an institution should be held accountable."

He argued that they funded, commissioned, and broadcast it - therefore they should take full responsibility.

The documentary featured multiple accounts of the Gaza conflict, with the hour-long film featuring a young Palestinian in the devastated city who was revealed to be the grandson of one of Hamas' founder

"They failed at every single stage to do their due diligence, their duty of care, they're in absolute disgraces and they're in crisis," he said.

The first statement from the BBC claimed they had no editorial control over the documentary.

Pearlman pointed out that their second statement seemed "contradictory" and then they "blamed" their producer Jamie Roberts.

"It looks like Hamas has produced it," he said.

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'Absolute disgrace': Executive producer Leo Pearlman rebukes the BBC over Gaza documentary

Pearlman argued that everyone involved in the documentary has been misled.

He also pointed out that the BBC have failed to call Hamas 'terrorists' previously.

Pearlman urged that immediate action must be taken by the BBC to remove the documentary.

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Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone was broadcast on Monday evening, depicting a "vivid and unflinching view of life" in Gaza, according to documentary makers.

The BBC issued an apology on Wednesday night, claiming it “had not been informed” of the connection by the documentary’s producers before it was broadcast.

“We followed all of our usual compliance procedures in the making of this film, but we had not been informed of this information by the independent producers when we complied and then broadcast the finished film,” a spokesman said.

Investigative journalist David Collier has claimed one of the child narrators featured in the documentary, 14-year-old Abdullah, is in fact the son of a Hamas government minister and grandson of one of Hamas' founders.

It comes as Lucy Frazer, the former as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, called for the removal of a documentary the BBC aired on life in Gaza during the conflict with Israel.

Israel’s ambassador to the UK Tzipi Hotovely said she has written to Director General of the BBC Tim Davie seeking answers over the ‘BBC’s choice of cameraman as well as the main protagonist of the documentary’.

The BBC has since defended the film, admitting the organisation had "full editorial control" despite stating it had no journalistic input given the ban on international reporters in the war zone.