BBC cancels primetime Boris Johnson interview after journalist gaffe

LONDON — The BBC has canceled a primetime interview with Boris Johnson after the former prime minister was accidentally sent internal briefing notes intended for BBC staff.

Johnson, who was U.K. prime minister between 2019 and 2022, was due to be interviewed Thursday for 30 minutes on BBC One as part of a promotional tour for his memoir “Unleashed,” which is published Oct. 10.

However, the BBC interviewer Laura Kuenssberg said Wednesday evening the interview could not go ahead after Johnson received her preparation notes for the interview in error.

“While prepping to interview Boris Johnson tomorrow,  by mistake I sent our briefing notes to him in a message meant for my team,” Kuenssberg wrote on X. “That obviously means it’s not right for the interview to go ahead.

“It’s very frustrating, and there’s no point pretending it’s anything other than embarrassing and disappointing, as there are plenty of important questions to be asked.”

Kuenssberg was formerly the BBC’s political editor and now presents the corporation’s flagship Sunday morning political program.

The BBC News Press Team tweeted that the gaffe made an interview “untenable” and “both the BBC and Mr Johnson’s team have agreed this is the best way forward.”

Johnson would likely have faced questions about proroguing parliament during the Brexit process, his management of the Covid-19 pandemic and resigning as an MP in June 2023 after a parliamentary committee found he misled the House of Commons about allegations of lockdown parties in Downing Street.

“Unleashed” has been serialized in the Daily Mail with numerous revelations including the late Queen Elizabeth II’s cause of death and Johnson’s belief French President Emmanuel Macron was trying to give the U.K. a “punishment beating” for leaving the EU.