Searchlight has been blamed for many things over the years, but being the puppet‑master behind the downward career trajectory of a rockabilly pianist is a fresh accolade.
Last week, Talk TV’s Alex Phillips devoted a surprisingly lengthy and operatic segment of her show to lamenting the supposed persecution of Dylan Kirk, who was dropped from a Channel 4 programme after Searchlight reported that his appearance at an anti‑migrant protest, posing for photographs with the leader of the fascist Britain First, Paul Golding, had led to calls for a gig at Liverpool’s Cavern Club to be called off.
‘Psycho’ anti-fascists
Phillips, who despite her posh demeanour must qualify as one of the most singularly dense and inarticulate presenters on UK television, approached the topic with the solemnity of a state funeral, introducing Searchlight as “very left‑wing… inhumane… utterly relentless”.
At one point she described anti‑fascists as “psycho”, which is certainly one way of describing “people who noticed a Britain First leader in a photograph”.
The narrative was simple: Kirk, a highly talented pianist with a fondness for 1950s rock ’n’ roll, had been “felled in his prime”, “ostracised”, and “cancelled” by a magazine that “exists to go and find racists and publicly shame them”.
Searchlight, on this account, is not a modest anti‑fascist website, but a sort of omnipotent cultural tribunal whose editors spend their days plotting the downfall of unsuspecting musicians.
Just wants scalps
Kirk, for his part, explained that he had attended a protest outside a migrant hotel and ended up in a photograph with Paul Golding, whom he described as “just some person” who liked his outfit. Phillips nodded sympathetically, as though Britain First’s leader were a passing tourist rather than one of the most recognisable faces of the UK far right.
It had all started, Kirk complained, with Searchlight, who had publicised his ill-considered selfie. This, incidentally, didn’t appear to have occurred to him when he was interviewed a couple of days earlier on GB News. But perish the thought that the idea had been planted in his head in the meantime.
Nor was it actually true; it started with calls for the Cavern gig to be cancelled, which we simply reported.
Indignation
The TalkTV’s presenter’s breathless indignation grew with each sentence. Searchlight, she insisted, “doesn’t care about the collateral damage”, “just wants scalps”, and is “an attack dog against the right wing”.
The BBC she added, “shouldn’t be going to Searchlight to decide who is and isn’t on their programmes”, which might be an arguable point if it hadn’t actually been Channel 4 who cancelled him.
Golding had since posted that it was all his fault; he approached Kirk for a photo because he thought his ’60s attire was “cool”.
Kirk, reposting this within 15 minutes of it appearing, pleaded it as evidence of his total innocence. .
But there are a few things still awaiting explanation: why he was on a far-right anti-migrant march in the first place; why he is Facebook friends with some of the most vile anti-migrant agitators in Kent; and why he has failed to say simply, “I didn’t know who Golding was, and if I did I would never have been pictured with him because he is a fascist”.
So, some ground to make up.
In reality, Searchlight did what it always does: reported verifiable facts about far‑right activity. Kirk attended an anti‑migrant protest. He posed for a photograph with the leader of Britain First. People called or a gig to be cancelled as a result. We reported it.
Channel 4, upon learning this, made its own decision. No conspiracy, no vendetta, no anti‑piano bias.
Unintentionally comic
Phillips ended the segment by urging Britain to “uncancel” Kirk, encouraging viewers to book him for weddings, corporate events and pub gigs.
It was a touching finale, if unintentionally comic: a national broadcaster rallying the country to save a man from the consequences of standing next to Paul Golding.
If TalkTV wants to cast Searchlight as an all‑powerful bogeyman, we won’t object. It’s flattering. But the truth remains stubbornly dull: if you mingle with the far right, someone will notice, even if you play a very good boogie‑woogie piano.
