Emily Maitlis was reprimanded for taking the oath of office by her co-host Krishnan Guru Murthy during Channel 4’s live coverage of the U.S. election in the UK.
During more than eight hours of live streaming, Maitlis – the subject of separate Netflix and Amazon dramas for her insightful interview with Prince Andrew – commented on the “batty” nature of Donald Trump’s comments about Haitian immigrants eating their pets.
Her commentary amused the Channel 4 panelists, and Guru Murthy pleaded with Maitlis to “stop swearing,” laughing that he has asked guests in the past to limit their salty language.
Shortly after the incident, Maitlis briefly left the Channel 4 studio to record an episode News Agents Podcast with Jon Sobel and Louis Goodall. Contrary to some social media speculation, she did not leave the venue and returned later to continue stabilizing production.
In the absence of Maitlis, Guru Murthy returned to take the oath, telling the guests: “I will tell Emily later because I know she started the oath. It may be midnight in Britain, but they are still a bit sensitive about these things.
It was a striking moment during Channel 4’s sometimes chaotic coverage, which opened with Boris Johnson, the former British prime minister, repeatedly closing his book. After presenting a copy to the camera, Guru Murthy asked Johnson to stop. The announcer said: “Enough… it’s too cheap.” The former politician said: “There is absolutely nothing you can do to stop me… I am allowed to close my book.”
Later, Johnson, a Trump supporter, called Channel 4’s head of content Ian Katz on air and complained about the channel’s “wildly skewed” election coverage. Katz was in Washington DC to oversee production, and posted a photo of the former prime minister before the coverage began.
Johnson was replaced by other members of the panel later in the night, with Guru Murthy saying: “Boris Johnson has been fired over the controversy over his book too much.” It is not clear whether this was planned or whether Channel 4 actually felt the need to intervene.
Other guests included Stormy Daniels, who revealed that she hadn’t been home in months and was living in an RV, after her address was revealed during Trump’s financial trial. At one point, Channel 4 also sat her next to Michael Cohen, the lawyer who organized Trump’s payment to the former porn star and served as a key witness for prosecutors during the trial.
A source