As a stalwart of Dragons’ Den for 20 years she is one of the BBC’s most recognised faces.
Now Deborah Meaden, 67, is at the centre of an astonishing row after she shared posts online criticising Israel and calling Donald Trump a ‘pervert’ following the strikes on Iran.
The entrepreneur has been accused by Danny Cohen, the BBC’s former director of television, of spreading ‘anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, misinformation and Iran regime propaganda’ to her nearly 700,000 followers on X. He said she was ‘bringing the BBC into disrepute’ and demanded the corporation act.
But the BBC sought to dismiss the controversy on the grounds she is not a BBC employee. A spokesman said: ‘Deborah Meaden is a freelance contributor and, as such, is not required to uphold the BBC’s impartiality through her actions on social media.’
In response, Mr Cohen told The Mail on Sunday: ‘The BBC should not try to side-step responsibility for dealing with this.
‘Deborah Meaden has been a BBC presenter for 20 years on a flagship programme. Attempting to use her exact employment status as an excuse for not addressing the problem is not good enough given the deeply concerning nature of her posts.’
In recent weeks, she has reposted numerous statements from other X users about the escalating tensions involving Iran, Israel and the US, including claims that Mr Trump is ‘Israel’s slave’ and that the US Congress is ‘owned and operated by the Zionist lobby’.
Other reposts implied that Israel poses a greater global threat than Iran, and accused the US of committing war crimes after attacking Iranian ships. Several also contained inflammatory language about Mr Trump, including describing him as a ‘pervert’, a ‘pig’ and a ‘brain-dead moron who bombs children and protects paedophiles’.
Dragons’ Den star Deborah Meaden, 67, has been accused of spreading ‘anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, misinformation and Iran regime propaganda’
Several X reposts by Meaden contained inflammatory language about Donald Trump, including describing him as a ‘pervert’, a ‘pig’ and a ‘brain-dead moron who bombs children and protects paedophiles’
She has also reposted material from controversial figures including US commentator Tucker Carlson, named ‘Anti-Semite of the Year’ in 2025 by the civil rights organisation StopAntisemitism.
Through it all, Ms Meaden has continued to promote Dragons’ Den to her followers, writing on Thursday: ‘Are you watching @BBCDragonsDen?’
Mr Cohen said: ‘She is using the name of a BBC show to promote herself on social media. This must surely be a breach of the BBC’s social media guidelines.’ The BBC states that those working for it must ‘not attack individuals, even when you disagree with their views’, nor ‘use offensive or aggressive language’.
It comes after Gary Lineker, 65, stepped down as a Match Of The Day presenter last year after sharing an Instagram post on Zionism featuring a rat – an image historically used as an anti-Semitic insult. He deleted the post and ‘apologised unreservedly’.
