Nadia Sawalha says ITV ordered her to remove Loose Women from bio over Palestine activism

British-Jordanian actress and television personality Nadia Sawalha has said ITV asked her to remove references to Loose Women from her social media profile amid controversy over her pro-Palestine activism and critical coverage of her in the Jewish Chronicle.

In a video posted to Instagram on Tuesday evening, Sawalha said she received an unusual call from the broadcaster around a year ago, shortly after the Jewish Chronicle published an article about her.

"Out of the blue I got a phone call. A day before, or a day before that, the Jewish Chronicle had done a piece on me, usual horrible stuff," she said. "The phone call said, 'We're going to have to ask you to take the fact that you're a Loose Woman off your feed.'"

Sawalha said she was told the reason was "because we can no longer defend you".

The actress said she had received numerous messages from people who said they had lost their jobs since the genocide on Gaza began because they had spoken out against Israel's offensive.

Sawalha, who appeared on Loose Women for more than a decade before being dropped from the programme in April, said she wrote a lengthy response to ITV explaining how she felt about the request.

The New Arab contacted ITV for comment but had not received a response by the time of publication.

Scores of people commented on Sawalha's post in solidarity, with some calling on ITV to apologise and reinstate her.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Nadia Sawalha (@nadiasawalha)

Earlier this month, Sawalha said in an Instagram video that she planned to reveal the full story behind her departure from the long-running daytime show, describing it as "pretty unbelievable".

Reports earlier this month said the European Legal Support Centre (ELSC), which is representing Sawalha, had sent a pre-action letter to ITV alleging that the broadcaster had "subjected Nadia to direct discrimination, indirect discrimination and harassment because of her protected philosophical beliefs".

The organisation said Sawalha had been discriminated against because of her "anti-Zionist beliefs, which are protected under the Equality Act 2010".

Sawalha has said she was subjected to smears, complaints and hostile media coverage, as well as campaigns calling for her removal from Loose Women, because of her calls for an end to Israel's war on Gaza.

The former EastEnders actress has been outspoken about Israel's offensive in Gaza since December 2023, two months after the war began. She has subsequently faced accusations of antisemitism and of spreading false claims.

Sawalha and her husband, Mark Adderley, have also successfully challenged media coverage of their activism. Two newspapers that published allegations accusing the couple of antisemitism and supporting terrorism later apologised and paid damages.

Despite calls for her reinstatement, Sawalha has not returned to Loose Women.

She maintains that her pro-Palestine activism was behind her removal from the programme, noting that before the Gaza war she had not been publicly outspoken about Palestine while appearing on the show.