GILES Coren has said he is “sorry as hell” after doing a “terrible thing on Twitter 18 months ago” in an apparent reference to his comments about the death of a young journalist.
In July 2021, the Times writer came under fire for his "sickening" tweets about the death of Dawn Foster, a Jacobin journalist who died at the age of 33.
The former BBC presenter posted two now-deleted tweets about the reporter's passing.
He said: "When someone dies who has trolled you on Twitter, saying vile and hurtful things about you and your family, is it okay to be like, 'I’m sorry for the people who loved you, and any human death diminishes me, but, HA HA HA HA HA HA'?"
Another version of the tweet read: “When someone dies who has trolled you on Twitter, saying vile and hurtful things about you and your family, is it okay to be like, 'I’m sorry for the people who loved you, and any human death diminishes me, but can you fuck off on to hell now where you belong'?"
Coren faced backlash after the tweets, with Twitter users accusing the writer of being upset after Foster suggested he landed his Times job thanks to family connections.
His father was Alan Coren, a writer and panellist on shows such as The News Quiz and Call My Bluff. His sister is TV presenter Victoria Coren Mitchell.
Speaking to Times Radio on Wednesday, the food writer said while he was "sorry as hell" he won't be making a public apology.
He said: “I did a terrible, terrible thing on Twitter 18 months ago and it led to all sorts of hell and unquestionably a loss of work and all kinds of things. People either know what it is or they don’t.
“I never apologised although I was sorry as hell and I wish I hadn’t done it …”
Giles Coren on Times Radio just said he “did a terrible thing 18 months ago on Twitter” but wouldn’t say exactly *what* that was. He made a point of saying he was “sorry but never apologised”. He’s talking about mocking Dawn Foster’s death. And we will *never* forget.
— Mic Wright (@brokenbottleboy) January 18, 2023
Coren was then interrupted by the Times host who said “you have just apologised”.
“I haven't apologised, I haven’t given an official apology,” he said.
“But on air you have,” she replied.
Coren continued: “Yes alright, I have then – I don’t know. The person who argued against an apology was Daniel Finkelstein with a brilliant column in the Times who said never apologise because once you give an apology they’ll ask for something else.”
Following the controversy, Coren left the BBC2 show Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby, which he presented alongside Monica Galetti.
The broadcaster stated previously his departure was because of a "diary clash".
There were calls for the food critic to be sacked as a writer for The Times but the newspaper refused to comment at the time with 22 complaints made to the Independent Press Standards Organisation.
