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James O'Brien (broadcaster)

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James O'Brien
O'Brien at the 2024 Chiswick Book Festival
Born
James Edward O'Brien

(1972-01-13) January 13, 1972 (age 52)
EducationAmpleforth College
Alma materLondon School of Economics
Occupation(s)Journalist, television/radio presenter
Known forLBC, Newsnight
SpouseLucy McDonald
Children2

James Edward O'Brien (born 1972)[1][2] is a British radio presenter, podcaster, author, and former tabloid journalist and television presenter. Since 2004, he has hosted a weekday morning phone-in discussion for talk station LBC.[3]

In 2017/18, he hosted an interview series on Joe.ie. He has been an occasional presenter for BBC's Newsnight. His spin-off podcast for LBC commenced in 2019.[4] He has been described as a shock jock.

Early life

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O'Brien was born to a teenage single mother, whose name he knows but whom he has no wish to meet.[5] He was adopted at the age of 28 days by Jim O'Brien, a journalist on the Doncaster Evening News[6] (who later joined The Daily Telegraph) and his wife.[5][7]

James was educated at the Catholic independent Ampleforth College, from which he was expelled for smoking cannabis, and later read Philosophy & Economics at the London School of Economics.[8][9]

Journalism

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Prior to his broadcasting career, O'Brien was an editor of the Daily Express gossip column written under the pseudonym William Hickey. He has also written for the Daily Mail, Cosmopolitan and The Spectator.[10][11][12]

Broadcasting

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From 2000 to 2002, O'Brien was a panellist on the Channel 5 programme The Wright Stuff. In early 2001, he presented A Knight with O'Brien,[13] a talk show on Anglia Television.

With his wife, Lucy O'Brien (née McDonald), he fronted Channel 5's 2001 general election talk show 5 Talk, securing a review from Clive James, who wrote: "James, in particular, is a pink-shirted walking encyclopedia of political savvy".[14][15][16]

LBC

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O'Brien first appeared on LBC during 2002 as a holiday cover presenter. His own weekly programme began in January 2003 and he became a full-time presenter in 2004.[3] Regular features of his show include the "Mystery Hour," in which listeners phone in with various things that puzzle them and other callers attempt to give a solution.[12]

O'Brien made national headlines in April 2009 when footballer Frank Lampard phoned his show to object to tabloid stories about his private life and O'Brien's discussion of them. Lampard's former fiancée, Elen Rivas, had alleged that Frank Lampard had turned their home into a bachelor pad while she and Lampard's children were living in a rented flat. Lampard phoned in, objecting to the assertion that he was "weak" and "scum" and said that he had fought "tooth and nail" to keep his family together.[17] Public comments on Lampard's reaction praised Lampard's "brave" and "articulate" handling of the situation.[17] The exchange later earned O'Brien, who defended his conduct in an equally heated exchange with Kay Burley on Sky News, a Bronze Award in the Best Interview category of the 2010 Sony Radio Academy Awards.[18]

In 2013, O'Brien clashed with Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith in an argument over the Government's work programmes.[19] In May 2014, O'Brien interviewed UKIP leader Nigel Farage. During the interview, O'Brien picked up on Farage's comment that he felt uncomfortable on a train at not being able to hear anyone speaking English. Farage was also criticised by O'Brien for misinterpreting having English as a second language as being unable to speak English at all and for saying he would be concerned if a group of Romanian men moved in next door to him.[20] In October 2014, O'Brien breached broadcasting rules by his remarks during the Clacton by-election.[21]

Throughout 2014 and 2015, O'Brien gave much air time and promotion to false claims of VIP sex abuse by the now discredited Exaro News website, which were based on testimony from Carl Beech, later sentenced to prison for perverting the course of justice and child sex offences,[22][23] something O'Brien later expressed regret for on Twitter.[24]

O'Brien has stated that he voted for Boris Johnson in the 2008 London mayoral election, though he now regrets his vote.[25] Politically, O'Brien said in 2017 that his views are 'liberal' rather than 'left-wing'.[26] He has said that he is politically homeless, being against the British Left such as the Labour party under Jeremy Corbyn, but enjoys support from the liberal media of British politics e.g. the New Statesman and The Guardian.[27][28] He enjoys the freedom that LBC gives him to express his views.[29] O'Brien frequently discusses Brexit with callers who voted to leave the EU in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum,[30] often claiming Leave voters had been deceived by the pro-Brexit campaigns to vote against their own interests.[31] In 2023, O’Brien was ranked number thirty-eight in the New Statesman’s Left Power List 2023, with the publication describing him as a “liberal firebrand” and “master of the sound-bite”.[32]

In August 2024, following criticism from the Jewish community, O'Brien apologized for praising a social media video that attributed some of the violence during the 2024 United Kingdom riots to "Zionist backers" during an LBC broadcast. He explained that he had not watched the video in full before commenting and described the remarks as "obnoxious and anti-Semitic."[33][34][35]

According to Michael Henderson of The Critic, O'Brien's LBC show is a "thundering, sanctimonious bore" and, "He exhibits the faults he finds so readily in others and passes them off as fruits from the tree of knowledge".[36]

Television

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O'Brien began occasionally guest presenting on the BBC Two programme Newsnight in August 2014.[37][38][29] Following the widespread interest in O'Brien's interview with Farage, it was speculated he would be a permanent replacement for longtime host Jeremy Paxman, who intended to step down.[39] The job was ultimately taken by Evan Davis.[40] O'Brien left Newsnight in January 2018 after being criticised for his anti-Brexit and anti-Trump views, which were felt to be out of step with the corporation's policy on neutrality. He departed on good terms, saying the BBC still had the finest selection of journalists in the world.[41]

In 2015, O'Brien presented a chat show for ITV called O'Brien, which aired for ten episodes.[42]

Podcast

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In October 2017, O'Brien began hosting a podcast at JOE.co.uk titled Unfiltered with James O'Brien,[43] which ran until November 2018. Guests included Russell Brand, Alastair Campbell, Lily Allen, Jon Ronson, Gary Lineker and Sir Nick Clegg.[44]

A new podcast was started in March 2019 titled Full Disclosure with James O'Brien.[4] The first guest to appear on this format was former Prime Minister Tony Blair.[45] Other notable guests have included David Mitchell, Nicky Campbell, Margaret Atwood, Michael Morpurgo, Keir Starmer recorded at Leicester Square Theatre.[46] Sir Ed Davey, the Leader of the Liberal Democrats was a guest in February 2024.[47]

Publications

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In 2015 he wrote the book Loathe Thy Neighbour, which examined attitudes towards immigration, and was published by Elliott & Thompson.[48]

In his 2018 book How To Be Right... in a World Gone Wrong, O'Brien offers his opinions on various current affairs. The book reached fifth position in The Sunday Times' Top 10 best sellers' list in December that year.[49]

In 2023, his book “How They Broke Britain” was published by WH Allen.

Personal life

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O'Brien is married to Lucy McDonald and has two daughters.[16] O'Brien was raised in the Roman Catholic faith and refers to himself as a Christian. He is a Kidderminster Harriers F.C. fan.[50]

Books

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  • Loathe Thy Neighbour, 2015, Elliott and Thompson
  • How To Be Right... in a World gone Wrong, 2018, W. H. Allen[51]
  • How Not to Be Wrong: The Art of Changing Your Mind, 2020, W. H. Allen
  • How They Broke Britain, 2023, W. H. Allen

References

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  1. ^ Williams, Zoe (1 April 2019). "James O'Brien: 'I can live with 'centrist dad'. Liberal? Yeah. Do-gooder? I try'". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  2. ^ "Interview with James O'Brien". High Profiles. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  3. ^ a b Moshakis, Alex (24 October 2020). "James O'Brien: 'I saw everything as a fight'". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  4. ^ a b "James O'Brien's New Podcast, Full Disclosure". LBC. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  5. ^ a b Flynn, Paul (1 November 2018). "LBC's James O'Brien: meet the man behind the mic". Evening Standard. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  6. ^ "Dad was on the Doncaster Evening News when I was born. He would have enjoyed this."
  7. ^ "Challenging Stuff and Nonsense". High Profiles.
  8. ^ Bland, Archie (24 March 2015). "LBC's James O'Brien: 'You have to be a bit more sledgehammer than scalpel on TV'". theguardian.com. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  9. ^ "James O'Brien: Being Expelled from School for Smoking Weed Nearly Ruined My Life".
  10. ^ James O'Brien [@mrjamesob] (19 January 2018). "… as the Daily Mail's former video games correspondent …" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  11. ^ James O'Brien [@mrjamesob] (31 December 2020). "… as the Mail's former video games editor …" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  12. ^ a b "James O'Brien". LBC Radio Rocks. Archived from the original on 28 January 2013. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  13. ^ "A Knight with O'Brien (TV series) | BFI". Ftvdb.bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  14. ^ "Clive James on (election) TV". The Independent. 30 May 2001. Retrieved 25 April 2009.[dead link]
  15. ^ James, Clive (13 December 2012). The Meaning of Recognition : New Essays 2001-2005. Pan Macmillan. p. 152. ISBN 9780330527170.
  16. ^ a b Dorian Lynskey (3 February 2017). "How James O'Brien became the conscience of liberal Britain". New Statesman. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  17. ^ a b "Frank Lampard's call to LBC: The full transcript". The Independent. 24 April 2009. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  18. ^ "Sony Radio Academy Awards 2010 – Best Interview Nominations". Radio Academy. Archived from the original on 14 September 2010.
  19. ^ "Iain Duncan Smith: Remembering the time former Work and Pensions Secretary clashed with James O'Brien". The Independent. 19 March 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  20. ^ Wintour, Patrick (16 May 2014). "Nigel Farage aide disrupts interview amid racism and expenses claims". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  21. ^ "Ofcom Broadcast Bulletin" (PDF). Ofcom.org.uk. Ofcom.
  22. ^ "James O'Brien and the Carl Beech witch-hunt". Spectator.co.uk. The Spectator.
  23. ^ "James O'Brien and the other VIP child sex abuse lies". Spectator.co.uk. The Spectator.
  24. ^ @mrjamesob (23 July 2019). "Hate the Carl Beech story. We gave his allegations against dead politicians a lot of coverage on the show & it turn…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  25. ^ @mrjamesob (27 April 2020). "I voted for Boris Johnson to be Mayor in 2008. (Obviously, I've changed my opinion of him since.) One cult tries to…" (Tweet). Retrieved 27 April 2020 – via Twitter.
  26. ^ "How James O'Brien became the conscience of liberal Britain". www.newstatesman.com. 3 February 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  27. ^ Lynskey, Dorian (3 February 2017). "How James O'Brien became the conscience of liberal Britain". New Statesman. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  28. ^ Anne Karpf (28 January 2018). "We need to talk: why Britain loves radio phone-ins". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  29. ^ a b "James O'Brien: "On radio, people still talk like no one is listening"". The Guardian. 8 January 2017. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  30. ^ Oppenheim, Maya (11 July 2017). "James O'Brien demolishes Leave voter in farcical on-air standoff". The Independent. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  31. ^ James O'Brien's clash with caller who tried to defend Brexit bus claim. LBC. 6 December 2019.
  32. ^ Statesman, New (17 May 2023). "The New Statesman's left power list". New Statesman. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  33. ^ "LBC presenter apologises for praising video blaming 'Zionist backers' for far-right riots". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
  34. ^ "LBC presenter apologises over 'obnoxious and antisemitic' Muslim Robinson video". Jewish News. 6 August 2024. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
  35. ^ "Is this summer of riots just the beginning?". Campaign Against Antisemitism. 21 August 2024. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
  36. ^ Henderson, Michael (1 March 2022). "The Oh So Clever Life of O'Brien". The Critic. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  37. ^ "Media Monkey's Diary: TV writers, Eddie Mair, Gardeners' Question Time". The Guardian. 3 August 2014. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  38. ^ James O'Brien appearances on BBC2, BBC Programme Index. Retrieved 2022-11-11
  39. ^ "Newsnight's Race To Succeed Jeremy Paxman: LBC's James O'Brien Gets A Try-Out". Forbes. 16 July 2014. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  40. ^ "LBC's James O'Brien: "You have to be a bit more sledgehammer than scalpel on TV"". The Guardian. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  41. ^ "James O'Brien parts ways with BBC Newsnight rather than 'wind neck in' on Brexit and Trump". Press Gazette. 22 January 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  42. ^ "O'Brien review, ITV: 'disappointing'". Daily Telegraph. 30 March 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  43. ^ "JOE is delighted to announce a new podcast series with James O'Brien". JOE.co.uk.
  44. ^ "Unfiltered with James O'Brien Episode List". Soundcloud. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  45. ^ "Full Disclosure with James O'Brien - Tony Blair". LBC. 5 March 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  46. ^ James O'Brien meets Keir Starmer | LBC, 25 August 2023, retrieved 9 February 2024
  47. ^ FM, Player (6 February 2024), Sir Ed Davey, retrieved 9 February 2024
  48. ^ Adams, Tim (8 January 2017). "James O'Brien: 'On radio, people still talk like no one is listening'". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  49. ^ "Books: The Sunday Times Bestsellers, December 2". The Sunday Times. 2 December 2018. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  50. ^ Spanner, Huw (18 January 2019). "Interview with James O'Brien: 'When I'm wrong, I admit it. And that makes me right'". Church Times. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  51. ^ "How To Be Right by James O'Brien | Waterstones". www.waterstones.com.
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