BBC claims former journalist captured footage of Banksy buried at New York City mural site

jeon BBC The journalist claims that the British Broadcasting Corporation ‘buried’ the footage he filmed. banksy At one of his mural locations in New York City.

Nick Bryant, previously the BBC’s New York correspondent, detailed his encounter with the anonymous British street artist and political activist in his latest post. substack.

Bryant said he “stayed in contact with the public relations team” after becoming involved with Banksy’s team while covering Banksy’s New York residency for the network in 2013.

“One morning in March 2018, I woke up to a phone call from England. Banksy’s publicity team was trying to give me a heads up: that day he would be unveiling a new piece somewhere in New York,” Bryant wrote.

The reporter later learned that the location of Banksy’s new artwork would be at The Houston Bowery Wall in Lower Manhattan, a well-known outdoor mural space known for displaying international street art by renowned artists.

“Our bureau in lower Manhattan was not far away,” Bryant wrote, “and we got there quickly and beat everyone up.” But the reporter said he was surprised to see that the mural featured an image of Kurdish artist Zehra Dogan, imprinted by Turkish authorities, as he expected Banksy to convey his views on President Donald Trump ahead of his first term in the White House.

“I noticed a security guard in a fluorescent yellow jacket patrolling the footpath near the scene,” Bryant said before reporting to his BBC colleagues in London. After speaking with him, the security guard said the artist “told us the crowds would be heading down soon. So would the press.”

Then Bryant asked him what Banksy looked like. “Without missing a beat, he pointed to a cafe across the street, where a middle-aged man in a black beanie and disheveled gray coat was just leaving with a hot to-go coffee. He said it was an artist. His young female assistant was walking blithely alongside him,” Bryant wrote.

The reporter and his cameraman ran after the artist and his assistant, but they quickly jumped into their car and ‘flipped on the ground,’ he wrote, adding, ‘We filmed him speeding down the streets of Houston.’

Bryant said he called his superiors in Washington and London to inform them of the ‘world monopoly’ they had just captured. “We captured Banksy in action. The man we filmed had fresh paint on his fingers,” he wrote.

However, the reporter pointed out that he “did not want to be a journalist who revealed his identity” and faced “an institutional and personal dilemma.” That would jeopardize his future work and blunt his political edge. But on the other hand, it is also said that “journalists are not in the business of oppression.”

“I got a call from London,” Bryant said, considering both perspectives.

“A senior colleague told me that he had gone to work that day with his daughter and that he thought it was wrong to reveal Banksy,” he wrote. “She thought we should not be the media outlet that tells children there is no Christmas.”

He went on to explain that “every time the BBC’s then arts editor entered the fray and asked the audience if they wanted to know Banksy’s true identity, they all said no. In a culture fixated on fame, it was clear that namelessness had a much higher value. The BBC’s head of news at the time agreed.”

Ultimately, Bryant told the British broadcaster that he ‘buried’ the famous artist’s video.

The Hollywood Reporter The BBC has been contacted for comment.

For years, people and media outlets have been trying to unmask Banksy. Earlier this year, Reuters It was claimed that the artist’s real identity was revealed.The man behind the artwork is said to be Robin Gunningham, who reportedly changed his name to David Jones a few years ago.