Julia Hartley-Brewer refuses to apologise to ‘childish’ Owen Jones, before comparing him to ISIS (VIDEO)
She branded him a “blatant flat-out” liar after the pair clashed on Sky News over the network’s portrayal of the Orlando massacre.
Julia Hartley-Brewer says Owen Jones does not deserve an apology, after the journalist walked off Sky News.
Jones left the studio following a heated discussion regarding the shooting of 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando – a move Hartley-Brewer today labelled as nothing more that a “childish tantrum”.
Writing for The Telegraph, she also suggested Jones’ actions challenged her “fundamental right to freedom of speech”, before comparing the left-wing journalist to the terrorist group ISIS – also known as Daesh.
“If Owen Jones wants to live in a world where people can only say what is on the officially approved list of platitudes, then perhaps he has more in common with Islamic State than he thinks,” she wrote.
Jones left Sky News after being told he should separate homophobia from Islamist terrorism when talking about the massacre that claimed 49 in Florida gay club Pulse.
“I’m sorry, I just find this the most astonishing thing I’ve ever been involved in on television,” he said.
“If he’d walked into a synagogue and massacred dozens of Jewish people, you wouldn’t be saying what you’re saying now.”
“You would be talking about it as an anti-semitic attack. This was a deliberate attack on LGBT people.”
As the co-panelists continued to dismiss his claims Jones said: “I’ve had enough of this,” took off his microphone and left the set, admitting he was “upset”.
However, Hartley-Brewer has accused the “self-indulgent” writer – “who just happens to be gay” – of peddling a “blatant flat-out lie” by claiming that she and Longhurst tried to silence him.
“The truth is that Owen didn’t want to listen to what anyone else said and when we did speak, he shouted us down,” she said.
“It was all about him and no one else was allowed to venture any opinion that didn’t fit neatly into his own narrative.”
Meanwhile, Jones himself took to the streets of Soho last night, a few hours before thousands gathered in London to pay their respects to the victims of the atrocity.
In a video filmed for his YouTube channel outside the iconic Admiral Duncan, he championed the LGBT communities strength and love for each other.
“The LGBT community will mourn, will cry and will rage but ultimately we will win and the love of LGBT people all over this planet will burn even brighter because of what he did,” he said.
Watch the clip below:
