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The real reason why Lily Allen was ditched from TV show revealed

Gobby popstar caused controversy with her comments

When it was announced that Lily Allen had been dropped from last night’s Newsnight, everyone thought it was because of her big gob.

You see earlier on in the evening, her appearance on Channel 4 news had caused controversy when she raged about the way the media was down playing the death toll from the horrific Grenfell Tower fire.

Speaking to Jon Snow, the mouthy pop singer spat: “I have never in my entire life seen an event like this where the death count has been down played by the mainstream media.

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“Seventeen? I’m sorry, but I’ve been hearing that the figure is closer to one hundred and fifty and many of them are children.”

She added: “Those are off the record figures given to me by policeman.”

Shortly after her appearance, it was announced that Lily was no longer scheduled on Newsnight and was being replaced by the head of Kensington And Chelsea council. .

Lily even Tweeted to support this, writing: “I’m sad to say @ BBCNewsnight just cancelled me for tonight’s show. They have someone from the council coming on instead.”

But yet some thought she had been ditched from the show in case she said something else to cause controversy.

A spokesperson for the BBC told the RadioTimes.com that the decision had nothing to do with her loose lips.

“With live news programmes like Newsnight final decisions on guests are often made late in the day which can mean the line up changes at short notice.

“Newsnight secured an interview with the leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council late on Thursday evening and dropped Lily in order to allow time for Kirsty Wark to conduct a thorough accountability interview.

“Like other BBC outlets, Newsnight has reported official casualty figures but also made it clear that they are expected to rise substantially.”

A while later, Newsnight’s Editor, Ian Katz confirmed this decision on Twitter to quash rumours she’d been kicked to the kerb because of her outrageous claims on Channel 4 News.

“Sorry to disappoint conspiracy theorists – we dropped lilyallen because we secured interview with leader of Ken + Chelsea council late yday [sic],” he wrote.

“Decision to drop @ lilyallen nothing to do with her comments on C4. We generally prioritise views with people who can be held accountable [sic].”

Meanwhile, Lily also said on Channel 4 news that she was impressed that the local community had rallied around as they had, but attacked the council for their inability to lead the relief efforts.

“The humanitarian effort on the ground here, the volunteering, which is being led by community leaders and volunteers, it is not being led by the council, it’s being run by the people of this community,” she said.

“It is chaotic, they don’t have any experience of it and I think it’s actually playing into the hands of the Government because once these people’s hope turns to anger, they have got a real problem on their hands.

She also attacked the local council for failing to unite the rich and poorer residents within the area of north Kensington by closing community centres and pubs in favour of posher versions.

“They’re not encouraged to have a community spirit,” she said.

“They know the council don’t care about them.”

Police have confirmed that 17 bodies have been taken to the morgue but expect once the building has been thoroughly searched that figure will substantially rise.

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Met Police Commander Stuart Cundy said he fears it may be difficult to identify all of those killed in the disaster.


Christian Guiltenane
Freelance Writer

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