Page 3 Profile: Martin Bashir, journalist

Martin Bashir, journalist (Getty)

Ah, Mr Bashir, where have you been?

The celebrated interviewer and documentary maker came to international attention interviewing Princess Diana and Michael Jackson, but was whisked away to the US after being snapped up by the American TV network MSNBC. Yesterday, however, he handed in his resignation.

What did he do?

He called Sarah Palin an “idiot”.

Charming… is that it?

He went on to suggest someone should defecate in her mouth.

Woah, context please?

In reference to a punishment carried out by a slave driver in the US, he said: “When Mrs Palin invokes slavery, she doesn’t just prove her rank ignorance. She confirms if anyone truly qualified for a dose of discipline from Thomas Thistlewood, she would be the outstanding candidate.”

An unusual presenting style…

Indeed. But Bashir made his name by not pulling punches. He put the King of Pop on the spot over child molestation claims, and secured the only ever TV interview with Princess Diana, lifting the lid on the Camilla Parker-Bowles situation, and eliciting the famous line: “There were three people in this marriage.”

A good scoop. What did he say about the Palin furore?

“It is my sincere hope that all of my colleagues… will be allowed to focus on the issues that matter without the distraction of myself or my ill-judged comments.”

So is this the end of the Bashir?

In the meantime, you can follow his music career. A keen electric bass guitarist, he released his first reggae album Bass Lion in 2010.