Martin Bashir is one of the most well-known and controversial journalists of all time. Still, many people are not familiar with what exactly has happened to him and why he has been called one of the most controversial men in the history of journalism.
Martin Bashir is a British Journalist, and he is a very controversial man in journalism. From being a presenter of the BBC‘s Panorama program to also working as an anchor for ABC’s Nightline news program, the journalist has worked with the greatest media giants and thus interviewed some of the biggest public personalities in the world, like Princess Diana and Michael Jackson, but that too landed him into great trouble also with his fault.
Therefore, this article will break down what exactly happened with the famous journalist Martin Bashir while working with some of the biggest media companies in the world.
1995 Princess Diana Interview
The biggest controversy in Martin Bashir’s life was the 1995 interview that he took of Princess Diana, which is still considered one of the most-watched television interviews of all time.
The 1995 interview of Princess Diana with Martin Bashir was a television interview that aired on the BBC program ‘Panorama’. In the interview, Princess Diana spoke candidly about her life in the royal family and her struggles with depression and infidelity.
However, being one of the widely watched interviews, it also became the center point of a major controversy in Martin Bashir’s life as to become known that the journalist used some false and unethical ways so to secure his Panorama 1995 interview. The claims were very strong, and Martin’s strategical way to convince the Princess to top-up his interview was by using falsified documents.
Well, the interview proved to be a wonder for Martin’s career since the interview received multiple awards, including a BAFTA, and led the way for Bashir to gear up his interview with other high-profile celebrities.
Straightly at that time, Bashir didn’t face any consequences, but in 2020 when the famous series ‘The Crown’s Season 5 was released, the media organization, BBC launched an investigation into finding the falsified documents that were used in manipulating the Princess, which proved the result that the journalist used unethical ways to convince the Princess while securing his interview for the program.
2003 Michael Jackson Interview
Another biggest controversy created by the journalist Martin Bashir was the 2003 Michael Jackson interview with Martin Bashir aired on the British television ITV, which was a very publicized event that sparked a lot of problems later on in the journalist’s life.
The documentary was titled ‘Living with Michael Jackson’ where the journalist Martin Bashir explored and interviewed the pop star whereas discussing his personal life, relationships, career, and his love for children.
Again here, just like Martin did with Diana, he was criticized for using deceit and unethical ways and behavior to take out the information so as to satisfy his documentary popularization.
As per the claims, Michael Jackson’s lawyer claimed that the documentary showed Jackson like a predator holding hands with cancer survivor Gavin Arvizo; therefore it was revealed by him that the boy never held Jackson’s hands and that the Journalist had made up the scene before the shooting for the documentary and that the whole scene of holding hands was just set up by the journalist.
Also, the documentary was criticized for its use of the footage that was shot without Jackson’s consent, the whole documentary led to child sexual abuse charges against Michael Jackson in 2005. Whereas Bashir even faced intense criticism and backlash for the way he portrayed Michael’s life.
Also, BBC itself conducted an internal investigation which proved the point that Martin had used wrongful ways to secure the interview, which led to Bashir’s suspension by the BBC but later he resigned from the media organization.
Where is Matin Bashir Now?
Well, currently it looks like Martin Bashir has, for now, stepped away from his profession of Journalism since, when he resigned from BBC in 2021, he has not taken any other Journalistic role in any other media organisation.
The major reason behind this is the BBC investigation on him regarding Prince Diana’s 1995 interview and the Michael Jackson interview which degraded Bashir’s reputation, and even made him resign from his role at BBC, but also the recent news regarding his bad health can also be taken another major reason behind why he is currently stepping away from the internet.
But the unethical practices which the journalist used while conducting the biggest interviews of his career depict a clear picture that even after being a journalist he used those deceitful practices which are against the standards of journalism, which people can never forget.
