A Conservative peer has paid damages to a student after wrongly accusing her of antisemitism over a fluffy toy mascot on University Challenge.
Former MEP Jacqueline Foster had claimed an octopus soft toy used by Melika Gorgianeh, a doctoral student in astrophysics at Oxford University, and her team as a mascot on the show was chosen as an antisemitic symbol, a claim the students strenuously denied, pointing out that the show, which screened on November 20, 2023, had actually shot at MediaCity’s dock10 in March, months before the current war in Gaza had even begun.
Gorgianeh, who wears a headscarf, was the focus of social media attention after the broadcast of the episode, with some observers also claiming her Zara jacket resembled the Palestinian flag.
The former MEP was among those targeting Gorgianeh on social media, alleging that the student had chosen an antisemitic symbol for the mascot and tagging PM Rishi Sunak and the university in a since-deleted Tweet calling for the student to be expelled.
Foster had already apologised publicly and privately to Gorgianeh. In a new post on Twitter (X) today, Foster reiterated her apology and said she has paid “substantial damages and costs” to Gorgianeh, describing her accusations as a “grave mistake.”
In a statement released by her solicitors, Rahman Lowe, Gorgianeh said Foster’s comment had “a profound and deeply damaging impact on my life” and that she had received death threats.
She said: “Baroness Foster’s posts, and the posts of others who are yet to be held to account, affected both myself and my family. I felt unsafe to even leave my house. Nobody should ever have to feel how I felt or go through what I went through. Words have consequences. And now, through her apology, Baroness Fosters’ words begin to have the consequence of healing the very real damage that had been done to me.”
Foster unsuccessfully stood as an MP for the Conservatives twice before successfully landing election to the European Parliament, where she sat for 10 years. She was made a peer in 2021.
Gorgianeh’s Christ Church College team won the episode, oblivious to the storm to follow, with 155 points versus rivals Emmanuel College, Cambridge’s 130.
