Paramount’s Channel 5 cuts Doc hours before it airs over contributor’s alleged ties to neo-Nazis

Paramount Global’s UK broadcaster Channel 5 was forced to pull a documentary from its schedule tonight, hours before it was scheduled to air, after allegations emerged that one of its contributors was a “hard Nazi”.

Nikki Shaw, who was supposed to appear as a historian 1928: The year the Thames floodedHe reportedly posted racist and homophobic messages on social media. Footage was also shared of a woman claiming to be Shaw performing a Nazi salute and licking a lollipop with a swastika on it.

A Channel 5 spokesperson confirmed the show had been pulled from the schedule, saying: “We will not be broadcasting the film tonight while producers investigate further.”

The show was scheduled for 21:00 but was repeated Beast from the East: The Big Freeze of 2018 was played on the spot. It is rare for a broadcaster to cancel a show so close to its start, underscoring the seriousness of the allegations. Channel 5 has not confirmed whether a formal investigation is underway.

It came after Hope Not Hate, a British anti-fascist organisation, posted a thread on Twitter/X exposing Shaw’s alleged links to leaders of far-right groups and describing her as a “hard Nazi”.

The thread referred to a Facebook account she allegedly runs under the name Bunty McBint. The site is “full of disgusting racism and dehumanizing language,” including deeply offensive language about black people, “miscegenators,” and singer Sam Smith. A recent post attributed to a promotional website for an ITN Productions show said she would appear in the doc, according to Hope Note Hate.

Deadline could not independently verify the messages because the Facebook account appears to have been deleted or hidden. Shaw could not be reached for comment this evening.

ITN Productions did not respond to requests for comment by the time of writing.

A similar issue occurred in 2020 when Sky History was forced to withdraw the competition programme The Chop: Britain’s finest woodworker after one participant’s tattoos were discovered to contain Nazi iconography.