Protest planned at Tate Modern after accusations against channel owned by Len Blavatnik, UK’s second-richest man
Len Blavatnik, the second-richest man in Britain, is facing a series of protests in the UK after his Israeli television channel was accused of cancelling programmes to please Benjamin Netanyahu.
Aviel Lewis, a London-based Israeli who is part of the anti-Netanyahu WeDemocracy group, said Blavatnik was known in the UK “as a patron of progressive culture and arts” and the British public was not aware that he was also involved in “something that is clearly taking Israeli media years back and corrupting it”.
Lewis is part of a group of Israeli citizens opposed to the Netanyahu government who are planning to hold protests on Sunday at the Tate Modern’s Blavatnik wing and the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of government.
Other cultural institutions featuring the Blavatnik name could later be targeted, with the protesters arguing that the billionaire’s media company is undermining freedom of the press in Israel.
He’s an interesting fellow; more so than you’d imagine from his recently low profile. He also owns the Warner Music Group, one of the three major recording companies. Also, he was a close acquaintance of Putin and many in his circles from before the fall of the USSR.
Len Blavatnik, the second-richest man in Britain, is facing a series of protests in the UK after his Israeli television channel was accused of cancelling programmes to please Benjamin Netanyahu.
Other cultural institutions featuring the Blavatnik name could later be targeted, with the protesters arguing that the billionaire’s media company is undermining freedom of the press in Israel.
He also controls a wide range of businesses including Warner Music – home to Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa, and Megan Thee Stallion – as well as sports streaming company DAZN and London’s Theatre Royal Haymarket.
Channel 13 News’ board last month appointed Yulia Shamalov-Berkovich, a former politician seen as an ally of the Israeli prime minister, as its chief executive.
Her arrival was swiftly followed by the cancellation of a popular investigative news programme hosted by the journalist Raviv Drucker, who had exposed a series of scandals about Netanyahu and a recent story about alleged corruption in the transport ministry.
Blavatnik’s stake in Channel 13 is owned by the oligarch’s Access Entertainment business, which is led by former BBC director of television Danny Cohen.
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