Dara Ó Briain has slammed the BBC for cancelling his TV show Stargazing Live, when they ‘pay Scarlett Moffatt to make a podcast’.
The presenter and comic, 48, took to Twitter to post the savage remark – before deleting it when it started getting noticed.
He wrote: ‘Trying not to be depressed today that while the BBC don’t want to make any more Stargazing Live, they will pay Scarlett Moffatt to make a podcast about how she doesn’t believe in the moon landings!’
Savage: Dara Ó Briain [L] has slammed the BBC for cancelling his TV show Stargazing Live, when they ‘pay Scarlett Moffatt [R] to make a podcast’
Scarlett, 29, presents BBC Sounds podcast Wants To Believe with her boyfriend Scott Dobinson.
On it, they discuss whether or not some of the world’s biggest conspiracy theories can be disproved with just one word.
At the end of July, Scarlett claimed that the moon landing of 1969 was a hoax, backing up her theories during an appearance on Lorraine.
‘So I don’t believe we’ve been to the moon… I know… controversial! But I just can’t believe that we’ve been there,’ she said. ‘And then I find it really hypocritical because people are like, “of course we’ve been there!” then they don’t believe in UFOs.
Slam! The presenter and comic, 48, took to Twitter to post the savage remark – before deleting it when it started getting noticed
Conspiracy theorists: Scarlett, 29, presents BBC Sounds podcast Wants To Believe with her boyfriend Scott Dobinson
‘It’s like how can you believe that we got in a little spaceship and went all the way to the moon but you can’t believe that aliens have visited our planet?’
This has clearly stuck with Dara, who even replied to a fan who asked him why he was taking the BBC’s decision out on Scarlett.
‘Because she got paid to do a 10 part series about her favourite conspiracy theories. Scarlett is a lovely person, but that is just nonsense,’ he replied.
Varied: Scarlett’s podcast covers topics such as ‘Is Prince Charles a vampire?’, ‘Why does the monopoly man wear a monocle?’, ‘Is the Loch Ness Monster a dinosaur or an eel?’ and ‘Do pigeons actually exist?’
Weighing in: Fellow comedian David Baddiel joined in, comparing Scarlett’s podcast to a documentary he presented on holocaust denial
Fellow comedian David Baddiel joined in, comparing Scarlett’s podcast to a documentary he presented on holocaust denial.
He replied: ‘I listened to [Scarlett’s podcast] and there’s a fair bit of Scarlett saying, basically, “I just want people to be allowed to question what’s handed down to them, and make their own minds up.”
‘That was something I heard quite a lot during the making [Confronting Holocaust Denial].’
He went on: ‘I too think she’s a very nice person. But there’s a reason why beliefs such as the moon landings were faked and that the world is secretly ruled by a shadowy elite called the Iluminati (another episode) lead on to very bad places.’
No hard feelings: Scarlett featured on the Blockbuster Christmas special 2019. Dara is the show’s host
After deleting the tweet, Dara posted: ‘For the record, I’ve met Scarlett, she was a guest on Blockbusters, and she is a lovely person, so please don’t give her any grief’
‘I just can’t believe that we’ve been there!’ At the end of July, Scarlett claimed that the moon landing of 1969 was a hoax
After deleting the tweet, Dara posted: ‘For the record, I’ve met Scarlett, she was a guest on Blockbusters, and she is a lovely person, so please don’t give her any grief. I’ve not tagged her in here. I just think this kind of series is a shame. You’ll get no credit from me for personal abuse, though. ok?’
He added: ‘Okay, I’ve made my point. Happy not to let it float around in perpetuity. And I don’t want to fuel grief for anyone, so I’ve deleted it. You all keep well. Oh, and we left mirrors on the moon in 1969 that we still bounce lasers off.’
He didn’t stop there, however, tweeting: ‘Some day we should tell you, in boring detail, just how amazing a job the tech staff did on Stargazing, to get live footage of an eclipse from a plane flying arcs over the Hebrides; or the first ever live Northern lights/presenter combo. All pretty cool.’
Axed: Stargazing Live was hosted by Dara and Brian Cox
Intergalactic! It was originally commissioned to cover the partial solar eclipse of January 4 2011
Stargazing Live ran from January 2011 through March 2017 before it got the axe. It did, however, return in 2019 to mark 50 years since the moon landing.
Dara hosted it with Brian Cox and Liz Bonnin, originally commissioned to cover the partial solar eclipse of January 4 2011.
Over the series, it covered the likes of Tim Peake’s Expedition 46 to the International Space Station, meteor showers, the search for a ninth planet in the Earth’s solar system, and even a hunt for alien life.
Scarlett’s podcast meanwhile covers topics such as ‘Is Prince Charles a vampire?’, ‘Why does the monopoly man wear a monocle?’, ‘Is the Loch Ness Monster a dinosaur or an eel?’ and ‘Do pigeons actually exist?’