Boris Johnson ‘fired’ from US election show for plugging his book

LONDON — Boris Johnson was removed from Channel 4’s U.S. election night program for promoting his book too much.

The former U.K. prime minister, providing analysis for the British broadcaster, repeatedly held up his recently published memoir “Unleashed” and dropped references to it, despite being told off by the hosts for doing so.

“Now, here in the studio we have a largely new panel — Boris Johnson has been fired for banging on about his book too much,” said co-anchor Krishnan Guru-Murthy less than two hours into Channel 4’s coverage.

It remains unclear whether Johnson’s departure was planned or unscheduled. Just minutes into the show, the former PM held up his memoir as Guru-Murthy told him to “put it away” and branded him “so cheap.”

Johnson refused to follow orders, stating: “There’s absolutely nothing you can do to stop me … I’m allowed to plug my book.”

He frequently said answers to the anchor’s questions about Ukraine and Johnson’s own political comeback could be found in the book.

Co-anchor Emily Maitlis stated: “We are not all going to read your book, so just tell us, do you want to have a political comeback … You can’t actually answer a single question.”

Johnson was unperturbed by the criticism, arguing he’d answered all the questions and was “blissfully engaged promoting my book ‘Unleashed,’ available in all good book stores.”

As prime minister, Johnson allied himself with Republican nominee Donald Trump, and has met him at least twice since leaving power to discuss the war in Ukraine. Johnson said he’d spoken to Trump “quite recently.”

However, Johnson dismissed accusations he modeled himself on Trump as “complete and utter tripe.”

A spokesperson for Johnson was approached for comment.