BBC ‘filmed Banksy at the site of a mural in Manhattan EIGHT years ago then did nothing with the footage because a boss’s daughter told them not to’, reporter claims
A former BBC reporter who claimed to have caught Banksy painting a mural in New York has admitted that the company helped keep the artist’s identity secret.
Former BBC New York correspondent Nick Bryant said he saw a man coming out of a cafe next to a newly completed mural in 2018.
The company’s cameraman filmed the encounter as the worn-out artist ran away.
But when Mr. Bryant called his bosses in London and told them about the privileges in his world, the response was far from the expected one.
“Minutes later I got a call from London,” Mr Bryant said. ‘A senior colleague told me that her daughter had accompanied her to work that day and she thought it was wrong to uncover her.
‘He thought we shouldn’t be a news organization telling kids there’s no Santa Claus.’
He said he was relieved because, as a Bristolian, he had feared backlash from his ‘home town’.
According to Mr. Bryant, the street artist’s public relations team had informed him that a new work would be displayed on Houston’s Bowery Wall.
Former BBC New York correspondent Nick Bryant (pictured) said he saw a man leaving a cafe next to a newly completed mural in 2018.
Banksy’s identity was shrouded in secrecy until The Mail on Sunday launched an investigation in 2008, naming Robin Gunningham (pictured) as the artist.
When they arrived with the cameraman, they asked a security guard on patrol what the artist looked like, and he pointed out ‘a middle-aged man wearing a black beret and a disheveled gray jacket’ leaving a nearby cafe.
Mr Bryant said: ‘Seeing the cameraman, the artist panicked and told his assistant to get in and slam the door. As he did this I leaned against the still open door and hastily explained that I was from the BBC and a fellow West Country man. “Sir, I’m a Bristolian” were my exact embarrassing words. How nice to call Banksy “sir”.
‘So he put the car in gear and laid it on the ground. We filmed him speeding down Houston Street, the takeaway coffee hilariously flying through the roof.’
Mr Bryant shared his experience on Substack after Banksy unveiled his latest work in London last week.
The new statue depicts a man in a suit on a pedestal, his face covered with a flag, blindly stepping down from the platform.
The street artist shared a video on his Instagram account, prompting commentators to question how he could pull off such a stunt in a busy area of central London.
Located on Pall Mall, near the Athenaeum Club and Crimean War Memorial.
The 25-metre work is also positioned just in front of a golden statue of Athena and near statues of Edward VII, Florence Nightingale and the Crimean War Memorial.
The new statue depicts a man in a suit on a pedestal, his face covered with a flag, blindly stepping down from the platform.
In a brief statement, a spokesperson for Banksy said: ‘The artist unveiled the unwanted monument at some point in the early hours of yesterday.
‘It’s located on the traffic island in Pall Mall where Banksy said “there was a bit of a gap”.’
The artist’s video also featured an anonymous person criticizing the artwork.
‘I don’t like it. That’s a beautiful statue there; “I prefer this one,” the man says, pointing to another statue nearby.
Banksy’s identity was shrouded in secrecy until 2008, when The Mail on Sunday launched an investigation, naming Robin Gunningham as the artist.
In March, the Reuters news agency claimed they had also proven that the artist was Mr Gunningham, who was said to have changed his name to David Jones.
However, his identity has not been confirmed yet.
In September, a Banksy mural appeared outside the Royal Courts of Justice building, where the judge used a gavel to hit a protester holding a bloody banner.
It was quickly covered up by authorities, with security guards patrolling in front of a screen concealing the artwork.
The work follows the arrest of nearly 900 people at a demonstration in support of the banned group Palestine Action in central London, in what is thought to be the UK’s largest mass arrest to date.
Banksy’s team claimed to Mr Bryant that the man he met was not the artist but an assistant doing the finishing touches.
