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Katie Olivia Hopkins (born 13 February 1975) is an English media personality, columnist,
far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...
political commentator, and former businesswoman. She was a contestant on the third series of ''The Apprentice'' in 2007; following further appearances in the media, she became a columnist for British national newspapers, including '' The Sun'' (2013–2015) and
MailOnline MailOnline (also known as ''dailymail.co.uk'') is the website of the '' Daily Mail'', a newspaper in the United Kingdom, and of its sister paper '' The Mail on Sunday''. MailOnline is a division of dmg media, which is owned by Daily Mail and ...
(2015–2017). In 2015, she hosted her own television talk show ''
If Katie Hopkins Ruled the World ''If Katie Hopkins Ruled the World'' was a British television panel show produced by Mentorn Media for TLC, presented by former ''Apprentice'' candidate and former newspaper columnist Katie Hopkins Katie Olivia Hopkins (born 13 February ...
,'' and appeared on the fifteenth series of ''Celebrity Big Brother'', finishing as runner-up. The following year, Hopkins became a presenter for the talk radio station
LBC LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadca ...
and underwent major brain surgery to treat her
epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrical ...
. In 2021, she joined the
UK Independence Party The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest par ...
(UKIP). Hopkins'
social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
presence and outspoken views, especially on
UK politics The United Kingdom is a unitary state with devolution that is governed within the framework of a parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy in which the monarch, currently Charles III, King of the United Kingdom, is the head ...
,
social class A social class is a grouping of people into a set of Dominance hierarchy, hierarchical social categories, the most common being the Upper class, upper, Middle class, middle and Working class, lower classes. Membership in a social class can for ...
,
obesity Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's we ...
, migrants and
race Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...
, have attracted controversy, criticism, media scrutiny, legal issues, protests and petitions. She has been accused of
racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
by journalists,
advocacy group Advocacy groups, also known as interest groups, special interest groups, lobbying groups or pressure groups use various forms of advocacy in order to influence public opinion and ultimately policy. They play an important role in the developm ...
s and
politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
s for her comments about migrants. In 2016, her former employer MailOnline was forced to pay significant
damages At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognised at ...
to a Muslim family whom she had falsely accused of
extremist Extremism is "the quality or state of being extreme" or "the advocacy of extreme measures or views". The term is primarily used in a political or religious sense to refer to an ideology that is considered (by the speaker or by some implied share ...
links. In the 2017
libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...
case ''
Monroe v Hopkins ''Monroe v Hopkins'' was a 2017 libel case in the High Court of England and Wales. It was brought by the food writer and activist Jack Monroe against the columnist Katie Hopkins after Hopkins falsely alleged that Monroe had vandalised a war mem ...
'', Hopkins was required to pay damages and
legal costs Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
to food writer
Jack Monroe Jack Monroe (born 17 March 1988) is a British food writer, journalist and activist known for campaigning on poverty issues, particularly hunger relief. She initially rose to prominence by writing a blog titled ''A Girl Called Jack'' (now r ...
after making defamatory remarks on
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
. Her role at LBC was terminated in May 2017 following her comments on Twitter about the
Manchester Arena bombing On 22 May 2017, an Islamist extremist suicide bomber detonated a shrapnel-laden homemade bomb as people were leaving the Manchester Arena following a concert by American pop singer Ariana Grande. Twenty-three people were killed, including ...
. Hopkins was permanently suspended from Twitter in June 2020 for what the company described as "violations of our hateful conduct policy". In July 2021, she was deported from
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and had to pay a
fine Fine may refer to: Characters * Sylvia Fine (''The Nanny''), Fran's mother on ''The Nanny'' * Officer Fine, a character in ''Tales from the Crypt'', played by Vincent Spano Legal terms * Fine (penalty), money to be paid as punishment for an offe ...
for deliberately breaching COVID-19 health regulations.


Early life and education

Katie Olivia Hopkins was born on 13 February 1975,''Index of Births, Marriages and Deaths in England and Wales, 1837–1983.'' in
Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...
, England. Her father was an
electrical engineer Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
for the local Electricity Board, and her mother was a bank teller. She has an older sister. She was brought up in
Bideford Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is the main town of the Torridge local government district. Toponymy In ancient records Bideford is recorded as ''Bedeford'', ''By ...
, attended a private
convent school Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...
from age three to 16, played sports and learned to play the piano and violin. As a child she believed she was "going to be the colonel of the forces. I loved the military. I loved the discipline, the rigour, the big shouty men." She instead studied economics at the
University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a public university , public research university in Exeter, Devon, England, United Kingdom. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of Min ...
, receiving sponsorship from the British Army's Intelligence Corps. She spent weekends with the
Officers' Training Corps The Officers' Training Corps (OTC), more fully called the University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC), are military leadership training units operated by the British Army. Their focus is to develop the leadership abilities of their members whilst ...
. She completed her military training at the
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial officer training centre. It is located in the town of ...
, but suffered an
epileptic seizure An epileptic seizure, informally known as a seizure, is a period of symptoms due to abnormally excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain. Outward effects vary from uncontrolled shaking movements involving much of the body with los ...
during the final passing-out ceremony, and as a result was unable to take up her commission. Hopkins said she kept her epilepsy secret while attending Sandhurst, as this would have prevented her from being commissioned. Instead, she joined a business consultancy and moved to
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, New York City, before returning to the UK in 2005. In September 2006 she joined the
Met Office The Meteorological Office, abbreviated as the Met Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and is led by CEO Penelope E ...
as a global brand consultant.


Career


''The Apprentice''

In late 2006 Hopkins was allowed to take unpaid leave from her Met Office job as part of her probationary period of employment to take part in
series three Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used in ...
of the reality TV show ''The Apprentice''. In the format used at that time, contestants in ''The Apprentice'' competed for a £100,000-a-year job working for the businessman
Alan Sugar Alan Michael Sugar, Baron Sugar (born 24 March 1947) is a British business magnate, media personality, author, politician and political adviser. In 1968, he started what would later become his largest business venture, consumer electronics com ...
. Hopkins rejected Sugar's offer of a place in the final episode of the programme, citing problems regarding childcare provision for her daughters, and withdrew from the competition at the end of the penultimate task. The episode gained 6.2 million viewers, while the following '' You're Fired!'' episode, in which Hopkins was interviewed, was watched by 3.1 million. Throughout her time on ''The Apprentice'', Hopkins made several critical comments on camera. The comments were directed at her fellow contestants, viewers of television
shopping channel Shopping channels (also known in British English as teleshopping) are a type of television program or specialty channel devoted to home shopping. Their formats typically feature live presentations and demonstrations of products, hosted by on-air pr ...
s,
maternity leave Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, Paternity (law), paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" and ...
,
fake tan Sunless tanning, also known as UV filled tanning, self tanning, spray tanning (when applied topically), or fake tanning, refers to the effect of a suntan without exposure to the Sun. Sunless tanning involves the use of oral agents (carotenids) ...
s, and overweight people. ''
Four Weddings and a Funeral ''Four Weddings and a Funeral'' is a 1994 British romantic comedy film directed by Mike Newell. It is the first of several films by screenwriter Richard Curtis to feature Hugh Grant, and follows the adventures of Charles (Grant) and his circle ...
'' and ''
Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Road M ...
'' writer
Richard Curtis Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis (born 8 November 1956) is a New Zealand-born British screenwriter, producer and film director. One of Britain's most successful comedy screenwriters, he is known primarily for romantic comedy films, among them '' ...
expressed his distaste for Hopkins, jokingly vowing to kill her when he accepted his Fellowship award at the 2007 BAFTA awards. When video clips of her comments about other candidates were shown on ''The Apprentice: You're Fired!'', following up on the main programme, Hopkins said that they were "quite funny".
Michelle Mone Michelle Georgina Mone, Baroness Mone, (''née'' Allan; born October 1971) is a British businesswoman and Conservative life peer. She has set up several businesses, including MJM International Ltd in 1996 and the lingerie company Ultimo alo ...
, the founder of lingerie company Ultimo and a guest on the panel, criticised Hopkins, calling her "exceptionally selfish", said she was not to be trusted, and accused her of giving "businesswomen a bad name". Sugar was criticised over his questioning of Hopkins about her childcare arrangements, and accused of violating the
Sex Discrimination Act 1975 The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (c. 65) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which protected men and women from discrimination on the grounds of sex or marital status. The Act concerned employment, training, education, harassmen ...
. The incident received substantial media comment. Sugar argued his case in an interview with
GMTV GMTV (an acronym for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited, was the name of the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 ...
host
Fiona Phillips Fiona Phillips (born 1 January 1961) is an English journalist, broadcaster and television presenter. She is best known for her presenting roles with the ITV Breakfast programme ''GMTV Today''. Early life Phillips was born in Canterbury Hospit ...
, stating that he was aware of the rules.


Aftermath

In June 2007, Hopkins lost her job at the Met Office, which said she did not meet the required standards to complete her probationary period, and it confirmed that her performance on ''The Apprentice'' and confessions about her private life were a factor in her dismissal. Hopkins later stated that the media were informed of her dismissal an hour after she was fired. After her appearance on ''The Apprentice'', Hopkins signed two deals to sell her story, one with the ''
News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling En ...
'' newspaper and the other with
EMAP Ascential plc, formerly EMAP, is a British business-to-business media business specialising in exhibitions & festivals and information services. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History Ric ...
, the company behind ''
Heat In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is al ...
'' and ''
Grazia ''Grazia'' (; Italian for ''Grace'') is a weekly women's magazine that originated in Italy with international editions printed in Albania, Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Colombia, France, Germany. Greece, Indonesia, I ...
'' magazines. Hopkins said in an interview with
BBC Radio Kent BBC Radio Kent is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Kent. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at The Great Hall in Tunbridge Wells. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of ...
that she had great respect for Sugar and that she believed she would have won the programme had she been in the final episode. She also said that the media's attitudes towards her did not affect her but did affect her family. She made a similar claim of hypothetical victory in an interview with Fiona Phillips on the morning of the final ''Apprentice'' episode, although Sugar had said that if she had wanted to press on, he would have fired her, whoever she was competing with. Hopkins told
BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
that she had not yet ruled out a media career but expressed interest in starting a business venture.


Media career

upHopkins in 2018 After ''The Apprentice'', Hopkins appeared in an episode of ''
8 Out of 10 Cats ''8 Out of 10 Cats'' is a British comedy panel show broadcast on Channel 4 and its sister networks, airing since 3 June 2005. The show is hosted by Jimmy Carr; the current team captains are Rob Beckett and Katherine Ryan. The show is based on ...
'', and was a guest star on ''
Loose Women ''Loose Women'' (previously known as ''Live Talk'' from 2000 to 2001) is a British talk show that broadcasts on ITV1 weekdays from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm. The show focuses on a panel of four female presenters who interview celebrities, talk about ...
'' and ''
The Friday Night Project ''The Sunday Night Project'' is a British comedy-variety show by Princess Productions that first aired on Channel 4 in February 2005 under the title ''The Friday Night Project''. Originally broadcast on Friday nights, the show moved to Sunday n ...
''. In 2007, she presented a ''Five Live Report'' on family life and working mothers for
BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcast ...
and contributed an article on the same subject to
BBC Online BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...
. In 2007, Hopkins joined the series '' I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!'' as a replacement for Malcolm McLaren, who dropped out just before the show started. In January 2015, she took part in the Channel 5 reality series ''
Celebrity Big Brother ''Big Brother VIP'', is an adaptation of the '' Big Brother'' reality television series. It is the celebrity version of its parent franchise ''Big Brother'', the celebrity version airs in several countries, however, the housemates or houseguest ...
'', finishing in second place. Hopkins has appeared twice on ''
Question Time A question time in a parliament occurs when members of the parliament ask questions of government ministers (including the prime minister), which they are obliged to answer. It usually occurs daily while parliament is sitting, though it can be ca ...
'', in the programmes of 10 June 2010 and 27 January 2011. She also appeared on the Young Voters' version of ''Question Time'' on 20 October 2010. She appeared on an episode of '' 10 O'Clock Live'' on 24 April 2013, alongside
Theo Paphitis Theodoros "Theo" Paphitis ( el, Θεόδωρος Παφίτης; born 24 September 1959) is a Greek-Cypriot British retail magnate and entrepreneur. He is best known for his appearances on the BBC business programme ''Dragons' Den'' and as former ...
and
Owen Jones Owen Jones (born 8 August 1984) is a British newspaper columnist, political commentator, journalist, author, and left-wing activist. He writes a column for ''The Guardian'' and contributes to the ''New Statesman'' and '' Tribune.'' He has two ...
, to discuss the legacy of the former British prime minister
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...
, who had died that month, and to debate tax policies and the division of wealth among British citizens. In 2015, she deliberately gained and lost over the course of several months, in an attempt to show that obese people can diet successfully. Her progress was carefully documented by a camera crew and then played on a programme called ''My Fat Story'' for
TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...
. TLC claimed an audience figure of 10 million in the UK and US for the programme. Later that year, she began her own chat show, ''
If Katie Hopkins Ruled the World ''If Katie Hopkins Ruled the World'' was a British television panel show produced by Mentorn Media for TLC, presented by former ''Apprentice'' candidate and former newspaper columnist Katie Hopkins Katie Olivia Hopkins (born 13 February ...
'', on the digital channel
TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...
. She said she wanted to bring a new approach to chat and panel shows. The series was cancelled in December, after the first series, owing to low audience ratings. From April 2016 to May 2017, Hopkins presented a
Sunday morning talk show A Sunday morning talk show is a television program with a news/ talk/ public affairs–hybrid format that is broadcast on Sunday mornings. This type of program originated in the United States, and has since been used in other countries. Overview T ...
on
LBC LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadca ...
, a London-based national talk and phone-in radio station. She had previously worked as a guest presenter for the station. "The snarling facade remained", wrote Fiona Sturges for ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' in April 2015 after one such broadcast, "but even Hopkins knows when to tone down the panto villain act". LBC announced Hopkins's departure on 26 May 2017, 'effective immediately', following her comments on Twitter soon after the
Manchester Arena bombing On 22 May 2017, an Islamist extremist suicide bomber detonated a shrapnel-laden homemade bomb as people were leaving the Manchester Arena following a concert by American pop singer Ariana Grande. Twenty-three people were killed, including ...
, in which Hopkins claimed "we need a final solution". Speaking about her departure a few days later on
Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
, she said a deal had been made with LBC not to speak about it, but suggested it was part of a "silencing" of people with right-wing views. At a Church and Media conference in October 2015, Hopkins said she was "pushing back the walls closing in on freedom of speech". Describing herself as "
Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
of the outspoken" during her speech, she said: "I have never apologised for anything I've said. I find it very disappointing when people apologise. You should have the positive moral attitude to stand by what you say". Since appearing on ''The Apprentice'', Hopkins has frequently featured in the media for making controversial remarks, being described in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', ''
HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'', and ''
MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
'' as a "professional
troll A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human bei ...
". She has described herself as a "conduit for truth", declaring "what other people think but are too scared to say"'. In 2019, Hopkins presented the documentary ''Homelands'' which was about
Islam in Europe Islam is the Religion in Europe, second-largest religion in Europe after Christianity. Although the majority of Muslim communities in Western Europe formed recently, there are centuries-old Muslim societies in the Balkans, Caucasus, Crimea, and ...
.


Print and online presence

Early in her public career, Hopkins wrote a column for Exeter's ''
Express & Echo The ''Express & Echo'' is a paid-for newspaper for Exeter and the surrounding area. History The ''Express & Echo'' was established in 1904 as the result of a merger between the ''Western Echo'' and the ''Devon Evening Express'', which was found ...
'' newspaper, but her articles ceased after an online poll in October 2007 found 84 per cent of readers wanted the feature to end. At the end of October 2013, it emerged that Hopkins had joined '' The Sun'' as a weekly columnist, with the newspaper promoting her as "Britain's most controversial columnist". In February 2015 Hopkins defended her remarks and those of her critics, commenting: "I welcome it because I've had my opinion and it's only right that people have theirs. I welcome the debate and the fact that people are getting involved." In autumn 2015, she left ''The Sun'' for the
Mail Online MailOnline (also known as ''dailymail.co.uk'') is the website of the ''Daily Mail'', a newspaper in the United Kingdom, and of its sister paper ''The Mail on Sunday''. MailOnline is a division of dmg media, which is owned by Daily Mail and Gene ...
website, the online companion to the ''
Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...
''. ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...
'' contributor
Bryony Gordon Bryony Naomi Gordon (born 5 July 1980) is an English journalist. Early life Gordon is the daughter of ''Sunday Mirror'' gossip columnist Jane Gordon. She was educated at a Kew College primary school and later attended the independent Queen's Ga ...
wrote in April 2015 that media organisations have "a tipping point here, where the marketing men and women don't want to be associated with reality TV's very own Adolf Hitler. But so far that doesn't seem to have happened." The ''Mail'' published a front-page article in June 2017 expressing its low opinion of the liberal ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' newspaper, which had attacked it for its coverage of the attack on the Finsbury Park mosque and also referred to Hopkins. It "was a lie" to say Hopkins wrote for the ''Daily Mail'', it asserted. "''The Guardian'' and its writer know that Ms Hopkins has nothing to do with the ''Daily Mail'', but works for Mail Online – a totally separate entity". The ''Daily Mail'' newspaper and Mail Online are part of the same group. Her last column for the ''Mail'' website was published on 5 October 2017. In a late November 2017 statement from her employers to the ''
Press Gazette ''Press Gazette'', formerly known as ''UK Press Gazette'' (UKPG), is a British media trade magazine dedicated to journalism and the press. First published in 1965, it had a circulation of about 2,500, before becoming online-only in 2013. Publis ...
'', it emerged that Hopkins's ''Mail'' contract had not been renewed "by mutual consent". A large number of Tweets from her Twitter account were deleted around the same time. A few days before, a video was posted online of Hopkins's appearance at the
David Horowitz Freedom Center The David Horowitz Freedom Center, formerly the Center for the Study of Popular Culture (CSPC), is a conservative anti-Islam foundation founded in 1988 by political activist David Horowitz and his long-time collaborator Peter Collier. It was ...
in Florida earlier in November 2017. "It's such a pleasure to be amongst people that are prepared to fight for their country" she said, asserting it is "our time". She continued: "We can commit to arm ourselves, not just with the help of the
NRA The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent gun rights lobbying organization while conti ...
". In her opinion, there is a "Muslim mafia" in certain areas of Britain and "institutionalised discrimination against whites" in the UK as a whole. In January 2018, Hopkins joined
The Rebel Media ''Rebel News'' (also known as ''The Rebel Media'' and ''The Rebel'') is a Canadian right-wing to far-right political and social commentary media website operated by Rebel News Network Ltd. It has been described as a "global platform" for the ...
, a Canadian far-right website which Tommy Robinson, founder of the far-right
English Defence League The English Defence League (EDL) is a far-right, Islamophobic organisation in the United Kingdom. A social movement and pressure group that employs street demonstrations as its main tactic, the EDL presents itself as a single-issue movement ...
has also contributed to. In her first column on her own ''Hopkins World'' outlet, she wrote: "When so many platforms are under the control of the Saudis, tied to fickle commercial advertisers or beholden to special interests and religious lobbyists, it is a real thrill to find a place for us to speak without censorship". Hopkins no longer writes for Rebel Media and it appears that she was quietly dropped as a contributor around October 2018. In June 2020, Hopkins was permanently suspended from
social networking A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for an ...
site
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
for what a company spokesperson said were "violations of our hateful conduct policy" – having previously been suspended for one week in January 2020. Hopkins subsequently stated that she had joined the social networking site
Parler Parler () is an American alt-tech social networking service associated with conservatives. Journalists have described Parler as an alt-tech alternative to Twitter, and users include those banned from mainstream social networks or who oppose ...
as an alternative. After the announcement a fake account was accidentally verified as hers, and was then used to scam users.


Views and controversies

Since appearing on ''The Apprentice'', Hopkins has frequently featured in the media for making controversial remarks, being described in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', ''
HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'', and
MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
as a "professional
troll A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human bei ...
". She has described herself as a "conduit for truth", declaring "what other people think but are too scared to say"'.


Islam

Hopkins is anti-Islam. After the 2016 Nice truck attack, Hopkins stated "Islam disgusts me", declaring the statement was "entirely rational" and not
Islamophobic Islamophobia is the fear of, hatred of, or prejudice against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general, especially when seen as a geopolitical force or a source of terrorism. The scope and precise definition of the term ''Islamophobia'' ...
. She is in favour of a burqa ban and has labelled Islamic culture as homophobic. In March 2017, Hopkins gave a speech at a
David Horowitz Freedom Center The David Horowitz Freedom Center, formerly the Center for the Study of Popular Culture (CSPC), is a conservative anti-Islam foundation founded in 1988 by political activist David Horowitz and his long-time collaborator Peter Collier. It was ...
event, in which she criticised Muslims, stating that a "Muslim mafia" controlled areas of Britain, and describing London Mayor
Sadiq Khan Sadiq Aman Khan (; born 8 October 1970) is a British politician serving as Mayor of London since 2016. He was previously Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting from 2005 until 2016. A member of the Labour Party, Khan is on the party's sof ...
as the "Muslim mayor of Londonistan". Calling on people to "fight for your country" against Muslims, Hopkins stated that "we can commit to arm ourselves, not just with the help of the
NRA The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent gun rights lobbying organization while conti ...
," adding "get furious and fight back".


Multiculturalism

Hopkins is against multiculturalism. Referencing a so-called "multicultural mafia", she has said that increased crime is directly linked to it. Criticising the
Notting Hill Carnival The Notting Hill Carnival is an annual Caribbean festival event that has taken place in London since 1966
in 2016, she said: "I don't buy multiculturalism at all", stating that a "London bubble" believed in it and "the liberal left wing press, the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, they love it! They can't get enough of it." Following the
2017 London Bridge attack On 3 June 2017, a terrorist vehicle-ramming and stabbing took place in London, England. A van was deliberately driven into pedestrians on London Bridge, and then crashed on Borough High Street, just south of the River Thames. The van's three occ ...
, Hopkins criticised "Liberals in London", saying they "actually think multiculturalism means we all die together", and that they were "so desperately wedded to the multicultural illusion that
hey Hey or Hey! may refer to: Music * Hey (band), a Polish rock band Albums * ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014 * ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980 * ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the title s ...
can only fight those who love the country the most, blame those who are most proud to be British."


White genocide

Hopkins promotes the antisemitic
white genocide conspiracy theory The white genocide, white extinction, or white replacement conspiracy theory is a white supremacist conspiracy theory which states that there is a deliberate plot, often blamed on Jews, to promote miscegenation, interracial marriage, mass non- ...
. She has contended that immigration and multiculturalism are intended to make white people minorities. In February 2018, ''
Yahoo News Yahoo! News is a news website that originated as an internet-based news aggregator by Yahoo!. The site was created by a Yahoo! software engineer named Brad Clawsie in August 1996. Articles originally came from news services such as the Associate ...
'' reported that "her intention was to 'expose' the white genocide" happening to farmers in South Africa. She also visited South Africa to report on 'anti-white racism'.


Feminism

On the television show ''Question Time'', Hopkins said of
feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
: "Women don't want equal treatment, they couldn't handle it if they got it. It's a tough world out there. What a lot of women are actually looking for is special treatment. What women need to realise is that they have to toughen up."


Tattoos

Hopkins has expressed her views on
tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several Process of tatt ...
s on television shows including ''
The Nolan Show ''The Nolan Show'', hosted by Stephen Nolan, airs on weekdays on BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Radio Foyle from 9:00am – 10:30am. Nolan has also moved onto a network platform, hosting '' Question Time Extra Time'' every Thursday night and a three-h ...
'' and ''
If Katie Hopkins Ruled the World ''If Katie Hopkins Ruled the World'' was a British television panel show produced by Mentorn Media for TLC, presented by former ''Apprentice'' candidate and former newspaper columnist Katie Hopkins Katie Olivia Hopkins (born 13 February ...
''. She has stated: "I really think if you have a tattoo you have to wonder about what kind of future you have ahead of you. As an employer, I wouldn't employ someone with tattoos as I would wonder what customers would think about them. For me, tattoos are just a way for people to find attention who haven't found another way in their life to achieve it by conventional means."


Social class

During an appearance on
ITV's ITV is a British free-to-air public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television network. It was launched in 1955 as Independent Television to provide competition to BBC Television (established in 1936). ITV is the ol ...
'' This Morning'' in July 2013, Hopkins said she would stop her children playing with their classmates based on their
given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a fa ...
s. She expressed a particular dislike for "lower class" names like Charmaine, Chantelle, and Chardonnay, which met with disapproval from co-host
Holly Willoughby Holly Marie Willoughby ( ; born 10 February 1981) is an English television presenter, author and model. She is currently the co-presenter of ITV's '' This Morning'' (2009–present) and '' Dancing on Ice'' (2006–2011, 2018–present) alongsid ...
. Hopkins said that she did not like "geographical location names" either. After Willoughby's colleague,
Phillip Schofield Phillip Bryan Schofield (born 1 April 1962) is an English television presenter who works for ITV. He is currently the co-presenter of ITV's '' This Morning'' (2002–present) and ''Dancing on Ice'' (2006–2014, 2018–present) alongside Holl ...
, said that she had given the name
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
to one of her daughters, Hopkins said that India is "not related to a place". A viewers' poll conducted by the ''This Morning'' programme indicated that 91 per cent of respondents disagreed with Hopkins's opinion. Appearing as a panellist on Channel 5's '' The Big Benefits Row: Live'' in February 2014, she was accused by
Terry Christian Terence Christian (born 8 May 1960) is a British broadcaster, journalist and author. He has presented several national television series in the UK including Channel 4's late night entertainment show '' The Word'' (1990–1995) and six series o ...
and others of only expressing her controversial opinions to make money from media appearances. Hopkins has said that financial motives are not the reason she speaks out, and received a "relatively modest" fee of £300 when she was on ''This Morning'' speaking about children's names. In a February 2014 interview with
Decca Aitkenhead Jessica "Decca" Aitkenhead (born 1971) is an English journalist, writer and broadcaster. Early life and education Aitkenhead's family lived in Wiltshire when she was born; she has three older brothers. Her father was a teacher in Bristol befo ...
for ''The Guardian'', Hopkins was asked if she is a snob: "Oh, definitely yeah, 100%. I think it's really important to be snobby".


Illness and fatalities in the UK

Hopkins posted a tweet referring to Scottish
life expectancy Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average time an organism is expected to live, based on the year of its birth, current age, and other demographic factors like sex. The most commonly used measure is life expectancy at birth ...
predictions based upon a 2011
NHS Scotland NHS Scotland, sometimes styled NHSScotland, is the publicly funded healthcare system in Scotland and one of the four systems that make up the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. It operates 14 territorial NHS boards across Scotland, ...
report, "Healthy Life Expectancy in Scotland: Update of trends to 2010". This tweet was posted following a heated debate on Scottish Independence during an edition of ''
The Wright Stuff ''The Wright Stuff'' is a British television chat show which was hosted by former tabloid journalist Matthew Wright from 2000 until 2018. It aired on Channel 5 on weekday mornings from 9:15 to 11:15am. The series characterised itself as "Br ...
'' on which Hopkins was a panellist. In the wake of the 2013 Glasgow helicopter crash, the tweet raised widespread condemnation among Twitter users. Hopkins retorted "Following Independence I will only be the Biggest Bitch in England", and described people's reactions as " PC tastic". An online petition to ban Hopkins from shows such as ITV's ''This Morning'' and ''The Wright Stuff'' on Channel 5 gained over 75,000 signatures. Hopkins issued an apology the following Monday, restating that her original remark was in reference to the NHS report and was simply bad timing. ITV said on 5 December 2013 that "We have no plans for Katie Hopkins to appear on ''This Morning'' at this present time". On 31 December 2014, police announced they were investigating complaints they had received concerning Hopkins's tweets about
Pauline Cafferkey Pauline Cafferkey is a Scottish nurse and aid worker who contracted Ebola virus disease in 2014 while working in Sierra Leone as part of the medical aid effort during the West African Ebola virus epidemic. She survived the illness. Initial adm ...
, a Scottish aid worker who was diagnosed with
Ebola Ebola, also known as Ebola virus disease (EVD) and Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is a viral hemorrhagic fever in humans and other primates, caused by ebolaviruses. Symptoms typically start anywhere between two days and three weeks after becom ...
after returning to the UK from
Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...
. Hopkins had tweeted: "Little sweaty jocks, sending us Ebola bombs in the form of sweaty Glaswegians just isn't cricket. Scottish NHS sucks." No evidence of criminality was found by the police. On 7 April 2015, Hopkins made a series of tweets suggesting that people with
dementia Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...
are "bed blockers" who take up scarce hospital beds and implied they would be better off dead. Her comments were condemned by leading British Alzheimer's charities. After five Londoners drowned at Camber Sands in August 2016, Hopkins tweeted a poll mocking the identities of the deceased. Sussex Police reported the tweet to Twitter under the headings of "abusive or harmful" and "disrespectful or offensive". They decided while the tweet was distasteful it was not criminal. The tweet was deleted.


Obesity

Hopkins has been accused of
fat-shaming Social stigma of obesity is broadly defined as bias or discriminatory behaviors targeted at overweight and obese individuals because of their weight. Such social stigmas can span one's entire life, as long as excess weight is present, starting ...
by journalists. When appearing on
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
's ''This'' ''Morning'', Hopkins expressed her views on
obesity Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's we ...
stating: "Would I employ you if you were obese? No I would not. You would give the wrong impression to the clients of my business. I need people to look energetic, professional and efficient. If you are obese, you look lazy", and "To call yourself 'plus size' is just a euphemism for being fat. Life is much easier when you're thinner. Big is not beautiful, of course a job comes down to how you look." In 2014, Hopkins took part in a
TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...
two-part documentary, ''Katie Hopkins: Fat and Back,'' where she gained and lost nearly 50 pounds (22 kilograms) of weight. Initially, she ridiculed an overweight woman for being 'a wreck of a human being'. When the TLC show aired in January 2015, Hopkins acknowledged that losing excess weight "actually turned out to be a real ordeal...now I know how hard it is to be fat and carry that weight around and I know no one wants to be fat by choice," she said.


Pakistani men and Rochdale

Hopkins objected to Rochdale commemorating National Pakistan Day on 23 March 2015 and said that she based her objection on a Rochdale sex trafficking case involving nine predominantly Pakistani men. In a series of tweets, she posted images of the felons with the caption "are these your friends too?" On 29 March 2015, Hopkins was reported to the police by Labour MP
Simon Danczuk Simon Christopher Danczuk (; born 24 October 1966) is a British author and former Member of Parliament (MP) who represented the constituency of Rochdale between 2010 and 2017. He has co-written two books, ''Smile for the Camera: The Double Life ...
for possible race hate crimes. In response, Hopkins said: "I asked fair questions and I think it's important that someone has the balls to speak out".


Migrants

On 17 April 2015, Hopkins wrote a column in ''The Sun'' comparing migrants to "cockroaches" and "feral humans" and said they were "spreading like the norovirus". She wrote that gunships should be used to stop migrants from crossing the Mediterranean. Her remarks were condemned by the
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, commonly known as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) or the United Nations Human Rights Office, is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nati ...
, Prince Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein. In a statement released on 24 April 2015, he urged the UK to "curb incitement to hatred" by its "tabloid newspapers". He stated that Hopkins used "language very similar to that employed by Rwanda's ''
Kangura ''Kangura'' was a Kinyarwanda and French-language magazine in Rwanda that served to stoke ethnic hatred in the run-up to the Rwandan genocide. The magazine was established in 1990, following the invasion of the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front (R ...
'' newspaper and Radio Mille Collines during the run up to the
1994 genocide The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu ...
", and said that both media organisations were subsequently convicted by an international tribunal of
incitement to genocide Incitement to genocide is a crime under international law which prohibits inciting (encouraging) the commission of genocide. An extreme form of hate speech, incitement to genocide is considered an inchoate offense and is theoretically subject ...
. Hopkins's column also drew criticism on Twitter, including from
Russell Brand Russell Edward Brand (born 4 June 1975) is an English comedian and actor known for his flamboyant, loquacious style and manner. Brand has received three British Comedy Awards: Best Newcomer (2006), Best Live Stand-Up (2008), and the award for ...
, to whom Hopkins responded by accusing Brand's "
champagne socialist Champagne socialist is a political term commonly used in the United Kingdom. It is a popular epithet that implies a degree of hypocrisy, and it is closely related to the concept of the liberal elite. The phrase is used to describe self-identifi ...
humanity" of neglecting taxpayers. Simon Usborne, writing in ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'', compared her use of the word "cockroach" to previous uses by the
Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
and just before the
Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu ...
by its perpetrators. He suspected that if any other contributor had written the piece, it would not have been published, and questioned her continued employment by the newspaper. Zoe Williams commented in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'': "It is no joke when people start talking like this. We are not 'giving her what she wants' when we make manifest our disgust. It is not a free speech issue. I'm not saying gag her: I'm saying fight her". In 2015 a Change.org petition was initiated with the aim of getting ''The Sun'' to sack Hopkins. By 26 April, it had attracted over 310,000 signatures. In early September, ''The Sun'' retweeted an earlier comment from Hopkins expressing her disinterest in migrants. The tweet was pulled after the Prime Minister David Cameron publicly announced Britain would do more to help those seeking asylum in the UK. A further Change.org petition for Hopkins to be replaced with 50,000 Syrian refugees gained more than 20,000 signatures in less than 48 hours in September 2015. In November 2015, Peter Herbert, chair of the Society of Black Lawyers, reported Hopkins and ''The Sun'' to Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner. Hopkins was questioned and not charged, and subsequently criticised the police for purportedly criminalising opinion, and stated that she would set up a Society of White Lawyers. By December 2016, the original article had been removed from ''The Sun''s website.


Romani people

On 21 May 2014, Hopkins tweeted "Romani people, Gypsies are not travellers. Travellers are people that commute to work or go on holiday. Gypsies are ferrel [sic] humans - we have no duty to them". Jenn Selby, a writer for ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'', described her comment as incredibly racist.


Donald Trump

Hopkins supported Donald Trump's Republican presidential nomination in the ''Daily Mail'' during December 2016: "I hear cries that he is a blithering idiot. I have often been called a deranged fool. But if this were true you could ignore me, ignore us, the two of us shouting naked at the rain. It's because we articulate sentiments repressed by the politically correct consensus that we have a voice". Hopkins defended Trump's Immigration policy of Donald Trump#Proposed travel ban from certain Muslim-majority countries, remarks that all Muslims should be banned from entering the United States. Trump later thanked Hopkins for her support and for her "powerful writing on the U.K.'s Muslim problems", calling her a "respected journalist", although the Metropolitan Police and the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson among others, rejected his comments that there are 'no go' areas of London for non-Muslims. Hopkins stated that Britain is in part "radicalised" and "it does nobody any favours to deny the obvious". When asked by BBC's ''Daily Politics'' presenter Andrew Neil in a December 2015 interview to name the "swathes" of Britain that are no-go areas for non-Muslims, Hopkins replied that she couldn't for "legal reasons". When Neil said there could be no legal problems with identifying an area she continued to refuse, saying only: "I know those places exist".


Racism, racial profiling, and Black Lives Matter

In January 2017, a caller to her LBC programme named Joseph said she came over as racist, following which she said: "I genuinely believe 'racist' as a word has been used so much. I am sorry for the word racist in a way. I love language so much ... it's like a regular word now, it's lost all meaning to me". When tweeting the clip she added, "Call me racist. I don't care. I will stand up for white women being raped because you're scared to offend Muslims". Hopkins tweeted shortly afterwards: "Racial profiling is a good thing, call me racist. I don't care... it has lost all meaning". She later briefly retweeted a favourable response from an account named Anti Juden SS, whose avatar featured the Nazi swastika, Swastika (and the United States flag), later stating that she had not looked at the handle. Sharing a poster on Twitter for the Netflix series ''Dear White People (TV series), Dear White People'' at the beginning of May 2017, Hopkins added: "Dear black people. If your lives matter why do you stab and shoot each other so much". Although the tweet was deleted, users of the social media site circulated screenshots of what appeared to be a reference to the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States. In August 2016 she urged the London Mayor
Sadiq Khan Sadiq Aman Khan (; born 8 October 1970) is a British politician serving as Mayor of London since 2016. He was previously Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting from 2005 until 2016. A member of the Labour Party, Khan is on the party's sof ...
to use Water cannon#United Kingdom, water cannon against Black Lives Matter protesters at Heathrow Airport, who had chained themselves to the tarmac of an approach road. In February 2018, Hopkins was detained and had her passport briefly confiscated in South Africa for allegedly spreading racial hatred.


Manchester Arena bombing

On the morning following the 2017
Manchester Arena bombing On 22 May 2017, an Islamist extremist suicide bomber detonated a shrapnel-laden homemade bomb as people were leaving the Manchester Arena following a concert by American pop singer Ariana Grande. Twenty-three people were killed, including ...
at an Ariana Grande concert, Hopkins tweeted about the need for a "final solution", the Final Solution, Nazis' term for the Holocaust: :22 dead - number rising. Schofield. Don't you even dare. Do not be part of the problem. We need a final solution. #Machester The tweet was soon deleted and reworded as a "true solution". Hopkins said the original was a typographical error (she had also misspelled "Manchester"). The motive for the attack, and the background of the suicide bomber, was unknown at the time Hopkins made the comment. The journalist Nick Cohen was among those who responded on Twitter: "Even if Hopkins knows nothing of Nazism – which I doubt – her "final solution" can only mean ethnic cleansing". Others, such as
Owen Jones Owen Jones (born 8 August 1984) is a British newspaper columnist, political commentator, journalist, author, and left-wing activist. He writes a column for ''The Guardian'' and contributes to the ''New Statesman'' and '' Tribune.'' He has two ...
, called for a boycott of the LBC radio station while they employ her. Interviewed later on Fox News by Tucker Carlson, she called for people to insist on deportations among other responses to terrorist acts. She said: "I used the word 'final solution' in a tweet, and I would not in any way want to use that term and the inference other people lay on that. What I meant was, we need a lasting solution, a resolution to this". The incident led to Hopkins leaving LBC. Following the 2017 London Bridge attack, June 2017 London Bridge attack almost a fortnight later, Hopkins called for internment, internment camps to be used for those suspected of being Muslim extremists on Fox News' ''Fox & Friends''. The host Clayton Morris said, on behalf of the network staff, that everyone considered the "idea reprehensible". Hopkins' comments have been linked in the media with a hate crime against a Muslim in 2017. A Muslim man in Heckmondwike stated that he was attacked by assailants who graffitied his house with Hopkins' tweet, including her misspelling "#Machester".


Refugees and migrants in the Mediterranean

In July 2017, Hopkins flew to Catania in Sicily to visit a ship known as the C-Star hired by the Defend Europe movement, which has the intention of hindering the work of "search and rescue" vessels in the Mediterranean used by charities such as Save the Children to save trafficked migrants and refugees. Defend Europe is supported by the American white-nationalist David Duke and the neo-Nazi ''The Daily Stormer, Daily Stormer'' website. Hopkins tweeted: "Looking forward to meeting the crew of the C-Star in Catania tomorrow. Setting out to defend the Med. All this week @MailOnline". She tweeted, and then deleted, an image of herself with a Defend Europe activist also present in Sicily at the time, a man known as Peter Sweden, initially reported to be an active Holocaust denial, Holocaust denier. An article headlined "Katie Hopkins on NGOs colluding with traffickers in Sicily" was briefly published on the ''Mailonline'' website in mid-July 2017. According to a report on ''
HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'' website, the article offered no evidence to match the title. Shortly after her article was deleted, Save the Children rejected Hopkins' claim that she had "spent time" with the crew of one of their ships. "Nor will she set sail with us on any of our rescue missions", they stated. The deleted ''Mailonline'' article was her only contribution to the planned series. Hopkins' opinions on Mediterranean migrants resurfaced in 2018 after the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting. Hopkins suggested that Chief Rabbi of the UK's "support for mass migration across the Med″ explained the shooting. She later deleted the tweet.


Legal issues


Jack Monroe

Cooking, Cookery writer and anti-poverty campaigner
Jack Monroe Jack Monroe (born 17 March 1988) is a British food writer, journalist and activist known for campaigning on poverty issues, particularly hunger relief. She initially rose to prominence by writing a blog titled ''A Girl Called Jack'' (now r ...
threatened a English defamation law, libel action against Katie Hopkins after Hopkins accused Monroe of vandalising a war memorial, having confused Monroe with journalist Laurie Penny, who had written in support of that vandalism. Monroe called for an apology and a £5,000 donation to a migrants rescue charity. Hopkins later admitted that she was mistaken about the identity but did not apologise. Monroe began legal action in January 2016, and was awarded £24,000 in damages and £107,000 in legal costs in March 2017. After the decision became known, Hopkins tweeted an image of herself as the Mary, mother of Jesus, Virgin Mary and commented that she saw herself as "the Jesus of the outspoken". An appeal application was refused in January 2018 as it was considered unlikely to succeed. Hopkins sold her family home to pay the legal costs.


Mahmood family

Mohammad Tariq Mahmood, his brother and their children were stopped from boarding a Norwegian Air Shuttle, Norwegian Air flight from Gatwick Airport, Gatwick to Los Angeles on 15 December 2015. At the airport, the family from Walthamstow found their entry visas to the United States had been cancelled. In December 2016, the Daily Mail and General Trust settled a libel case brought by the Mahmood family with £150,000 damages, plus legal costs, over two articles by Hopkins posted on the MailOnline website which claimed members of the Muslim family were extremists. The columns published at the time of the incident falsely claimed that officials were right to stop the family flying to Los Angeles to visit Disneyland because the two men were connected to Al-Qaeda, al-Qaida, and that their stated plans were a "lie". In the settlement, the assertions from the Mahmood family were accepted as true by the ''Mail'' and Hopkins; the family had arranged to stay with another brother living in California, The family's MP, Stella Creasy, complained to the prime minister David Cameron at the time about the family's treatment. Hopkins said Creasy was a "whinging…blond-bobbed maniac". In a statement from the family's solicitors, Carter-Ruck, they said: "matters are not helped when sensationalist and, frankly, Islamophobic articles such as this are published, and which caused us all a great deal of distress and anxiety. We are very pleased that the record has been set straight". The two articles by Hopkins about the Mahmood family have been removed from the MailOnline website.


Jackie Teale

In November 2017, Hopkins' former employers
Mail Online MailOnline (also known as ''dailymail.co.uk'') is the website of the ''Daily Mail'', a newspaper in the United Kingdom, and of its sister paper ''The Mail on Sunday''. MailOnline is a division of dmg media, which is owned by Daily Mail and Gene ...
apologised and paid "substantial damages" to teacher Jackie Teale, after Hopkins falsely accused Teale of taking her class to a Donald Trump protest in Westminster.


''Daily Mirror''

In May 2018, Hopkins won an Independent Press Standards Organisation, IPSO case against the ''Daily Mirror'' for claiming that she had been detained in South Africa in February 2018 for taking ketamine. The ''Mirror'' updated the headline to say that she had been detained for spreading racial hatred, and included a correction in the article.


Finsbury Park Mosque

In October 2020, Hopkins issued an apology after she was sued by Finsbury Park Mosque for inaccurately linking it to a violent incident in May 2020.


Deportation from Australia

Hopkins was selected as a cast member of the Australian Big Brother VIP (Australian TV series), ''Big Brother VIP'' series in 2021. She was sacked on 18 July 2021 while in hotel quarantine in Sydney after posting on social media that she had deliberately breached COVID-19 health regulations. At the time of her sacking the Australian Government was investigating whether she had violated the conditions of her visa, and both senior ministers and the federal opposition were calling for her to be deported. The opposition was also critical of the government's decision to grant Hopkins a visa. On 19 July, Hopkins was fined $A1,000 for not wearing a mask while in hotel quarantine. Her visa was also cancelled during the day, and she was deported from the country.


Political activities

In the 2009 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, 2009 European Parliament Election, Hopkins stood as a candidate for the South West England (European Parliament constituency), South West England Constituency as an Independent politician, independent candidate. She polled 8,971 votes or 0.6% of the total votes cast. In September 2015, Hopkins spoke at an event organised by the Electoral Reform Society at the
UK Independence Party The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest par ...
(UKIP)'s annual conference. After derogatory comments about the appointment of
Michelle Mone Michelle Georgina Mone, Baroness Mone, (''née'' Allan; born October 1971) is a British businesswoman and Conservative life peer. She has set up several businesses, including MJM International Ltd in 1996 and the lingerie company Ultimo alo ...
to the House of Lords, she said: "Frankly, I don't really mind if we seal up the room and gas the lot of them". UKIP said in 2015 that Hopkins was not a party member and, although she has reportedly applied to join on several occasions, her applications had always been rejected. In November 2015, students at Brunel University turned their backs on her, then walked out in protest at her presence in a debate. In January 2021, Hopkins successfully joined UKIP. Explaining her intentions to join the party, she said "People always ask me ... when am I going to do something smarter than just gob off on social media?"


Personal life

Hopkins' first husband was Damian McKinney, a former Royal Marines, Royal Marine and founder and chief executive of the company McKinney Rogers; they married in September 2004 in Exeter. He was married to another woman when they first met; she has admitted to having adultery, "stolen" him. McKinney left Hopkins for another woman soon after the birth of the couple's second daughter. While working at the
Met Office The Meteorological Office, abbreviated as the Met Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and is led by CEO Penelope E ...
, she met Mark Cross, a married design manager. In 2010, her marriage to Cross was filmed as part of the reality game show ''Four Weddings'', which is shown on the satellite and cable channel Sky Living.Reality TV wedding for Apprentice 'maneater' Katie Hopkins
. ''London Evening Standard'', 5 February 2010. Retrieved 15 August 2013
Hopkins formerly suffered from
epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrical ...
; she was being hospitalised around once every 10 days in early 2014, she told
Decca Aitkenhead Jessica "Decca" Aitkenhead (born 1971) is an English journalist, writer and broadcaster. Early life and education Aitkenhead's family lived in Wiltshire when she was born; she has three older brothers. Her father was a teacher in Bristol befo ...
: "When I have a fit at night, my arms come out. They dislocate. So I have to go into hospital to have them relocated. That's happened 26 times in the last nine months". The seizures could occur up to 10 times at night, according to Sathnam Sanghera who interviewed her for ''The Times'' in mid-2015. They began in her late teens whenever she fell asleep and did not respond to prescribed drugs, she said in 2017. In a piece for '' The Sun'', published the following August, she announced she was undergoing surgery to help prevent seizures. In mid-November 2015, her condition led her to fall to the ground in the street injuring her face, and an ambulance was called. In February 2016, she underwent surgery in which a portion of her brain was removed to relieve the severity of the condition. Hopkins tweeted a month later that the operation was a success. "I am no longer an epileptic", she tweeted. According to Hopkins, the surgery has, however, led to complications. Hopkins sold her Exeter home in March 2018 for £930,000. She applied for an individual voluntary arrangement in May 2018 to avoid bankruptcy in the United Kingdom, bankruptcy, after the libel case brought by Jack Monroe.


Television


As herself


Guest appearances

* ''
8 Out of 10 Cats ''8 Out of 10 Cats'' is a British comedy panel show broadcast on Channel 4 and its sister networks, airing since 3 June 2005. The show is hosted by Jimmy Carr; the current team captains are Rob Beckett and Katherine Ryan. The show is based on ...
'' (2007) – 1 episode *''
The Friday Night Project ''The Sunday Night Project'' is a British comedy-variety show by Princess Productions that first aired on Channel 4 in February 2005 under the title ''The Friday Night Project''. Originally broadcast on Friday nights, the show moved to Sunday n ...
'' (2007) – 1 episode *The Weakest Link (British game show), ''The Weakest Link'' (2008) – 1 episode * ''
The Wright Stuff ''The Wright Stuff'' is a British television chat show which was hosted by former tabloid journalist Matthew Wright from 2000 until 2018. It aired on Channel 5 on weekday mornings from 9:15 to 11:15am. The series characterised itself as "Br ...
'' (2008–2015) – 17 episodes *''The Alan Titchmarsh Show'' (2010) – 1 episode * ''Question Time'' (2010–2011) – 3 episodes *Daybreak (2010 TV programme), ''Daybreak'' (2011–2013) – 6 episodes *''The One Show'' (2011) – 1 episode *10 O'Clock Live, ''10 O'Clock Live'' (2013) - 1 episode * This Morning (TV programme), ''This Morning'' (2013–2014) – 15 episodes *''Big Brother's Bit on the Side, Celebrity Big Brother's Bit on the Side'' (2014–2015) – 6 episodes *The Late Late Show (Irish talk show), ''The Late Late Show'' (2014–2015) – 2 episodes * ''Celebrity Juice'' (2014) – 1 episode * ''
Loose Women ''Loose Women'' (previously known as ''Live Talk'' from 2000 to 2001) is a British talk show that broadcasts on ITV1 weekdays from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm. The show focuses on a panel of four female presenters who interview celebrities, talk about ...
'' (2015) – 1 episode *''
The Nolan Show ''The Nolan Show'', hosted by Stephen Nolan, airs on weekdays on BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Radio Foyle from 9:00am – 10:30am. Nolan has also moved onto a network platform, hosting '' Question Time Extra Time'' every Thursday night and a three-h ...
'' (2015) – 1 episode *''Tucker Carlson Tonight'' (2018) – 4 episodes *''The Bolt Report'' (2019) – 1 episode *''The Candace Owens Show'' (2020) – 1 episode *Outsiders (Australian TV program), ''Outsiders'' (2020–2021) – 6 episodes


Bibliography

* ''Rude'' (2017) *''Help: A Survival Guide For Life'' (2021)


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hopkins, Katie 1975 births Living people Adjutant General's Corps officers Alumni of the University of Exeter Big Brother (British TV series) contestants Daily Mail journalists English columnists English politicians Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst British critics of Islam Critics of multiculturalism English women journalists Anti-Islam sentiment in the United Kingdom People deported from Australia People from Bideford Writers from Exeter People with epilepsy Television personalities from Devon The Apprentice (British TV series) candidates Twitter controversies The Sun (United Kingdom) people British social commentators WFTV Award winners Far-right politics in England British women columnists I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (British TV series) participants UK Independence Party people