GB News presenters have hit out at pranksters after people wrote into the show using comedic names.
Simon McCoy and Alex Phillips addressed the issue on ‘The Alex Agenda’ in a clip that has been widely shared on social media.
The former BBC News presenter said: “Some people think it is really funny to send in text messages on the basis that if we read them out we’ve been ‘had’. And it doesn’t help anybody.”
Phillips then said the channel will just “not read” surnames in response, with McCoy telling people to “grow up”.
Simons sick of emails from Hugh Janus. Plus premature ejingleation! #gbnews pic.twitter.com/EwhfU2dgFy
— GBNews Fails (@GBNewsFails) June 16, 2021
Brands pull advertising
GB News has got off to a rocky start after multiple brands pulled advertising from the channel.
Ikea, cider firm Kopparberg and Octopus Energy have withdrawn their adverts on the network following its launch on Sunday.
GB News, positioned as a rival to the news and current affairs offerings of the likes of BBC and Sky, is fronted by veteran broadcaster Andrew Neil.
He said the channel would not be “another echo chamber for the metropolitan mindset that already dominates so much of the media”.
However, GB News has faced accusations it will be broadcasting US-style partisan news shows in the UK and campaign group Stop Funding Hate challenged advertisers on social media.
“Genuinely balanced”
Swedish furniture giant Ikea said it had “not knowingly” advertised on GB News.
It added: “We are in the process of investigating how this may have occurred to ensure it won’t happen again in future, and have suspended paid display advertising in the meantime.”
In its statement, Kopparberg also said it was unaware its adverts were running on the channel and said they had been suspended “pending further review of its content”.
Octopus said it would only advertise with GB News if it proved to be “genuinely balanced”.
The Open University also paused its advertising.
Related: Cummings publishes WhatsApps from Boris as PM heads to Commons for PMQs
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