Misan Harriman To Step Down as Southbank Centre Chair
9June 25, 2026
Misan Harriman, the chair of London’sSouthbank Centre, announced that he would be stepping down from his post via social media this week. Harriman’s resignation comesone month after a slate of virulent criticismfrom Britain’sTelegraphandDaily Mailwhich labeled the photographer and entrepreneur antisemitic, which in turn encouragedmore than 100,000 peopleto sign an open letter defending Harriman from the “smear” campaign. A Southbank Centre spokesperson confirmed to theGuardianthat Harriman’s exit had been planned since January.
“It’s semi-public knowledge that my term is coming to an end anyway,” Harriman said in his post. “I had decided way before this madness that I was going to do two terms. It takes a long time to find whoever the next chair will be, and that process will begin at some point, and I’ll update you more on exact dates and timelines probably in autumn.”
Harriman added that he is “still very proud to be chair” of the Southbank Centre.
Back in May, a series of articles published by the aforementioned publications posited that Harriman had shared a “conspiracy” video on his highly active Instagram account. The video in question inquired as to why the press were ignoring a Muslim victim who was targeted in the Golders Green arson attack in March. After Harriman posted a second video about the rise of the Reform party, Right-wing commentators accused him of equating Reform’s ascent to the Holocaust.
Since then, Harriman has been accused of spreading Antisemitic rhetoric, a charge that’s been highly disputed by Harriman’s supporters, who include Brian Eno, Tracey Emin and Greta Thunberg. Eno, Emin, and Thunberg are also signatories to the aforementioned open letter.
“Truth itself is on the line; just because these right-wing and frankly racist newspapers scream the loudest, it does not mean it is the truth,” Harriman told Hyperallergic in May.
In addition to being a nominee for Amnesty UK’s People’s Human Rights Champion, Harriman is a consistently outspoken activist in support of Palestine, and a 2024 Academy Award nominee. In 2020, Harriman became the first Black man to shoot the September issue cover of British Vogue.
In a video posted to Instagram on Wednesday, Harriman spoke about a comment left by a Telegraph subscriber on one of the articles written about him. Harriman said that the comment reads: “Ask Mossad to deal with it, we can’t.”
“I’m pretty sure this person that wrote that comment would never have heard about me until article after article after article by the Telegraph was written about me, with a singular viewpoint on who they are telling their readers I am,” Harriman said. “In regards to the telling, we really all need to have real time lessons in press literacy . . . and the rules of engagement.”