David Starkey trolled Mary Beard and these historians got medieval on him

David Starkey seems to be better known for making controversial comments than he is for his day job, as a Tudor historian. His latest outburst involved the claim that “old, ugly women” like Classicist Professor Mary Beard have ruined his career by being the favourites for TV work.

Historian David Starkey claims that only 'old, ugly women' such as @wmarybeard make it on TV now. https://t.co/DnGfeOmPvs via @DailyMailCeleb

— Richard Eden (@richardaeden) July 17, 2018

Her fellow historians stepped in to address his comment.

1.

And it’s back to appearances again. Thank god Starkey isn’t judged on his appearance, as he appears to be all the ‘League of Gentlemen’ characters rolled into one. https://t.co/ltcK08DG5C

— Prof Janina Ramirez (@DrJaninaRamirez) July 17, 2018

2.

Starkey is such a pillock. “Women historians are both too pretty and too ugly.” He’s apparently the Goldilocks historian of “just right”, I see. https://t.co/hwHQIUbtRN

— Greg Jenner (@greg_jenner) July 17, 2018

3.

Last time he had something to promote he said women historians only made it if they were pretty. Pick a misogyny, Starkers! https://t.co/djzpBA6yP4

— Dr Louise Raw (@LouiseRawAuthor) July 18, 2018

4.

https://twitter.com/AlexisCoe/status/1019655157951451136

5.

Yeah, one thing I notice more and more these days is how few bigoted white men there are on the telly. https://t.co/BGKcDMSFCU

— Dion Georgiou 🇨🇾❤️🇬🇾 (@DrDionGeorgiou) July 18, 2018

6.

https://twitter.com/Grove_digger/status/1019277471261364224

7.

I feel like I should make an incisive rebuttal of this, but it really doesn’t deserve it and I’ve had an astonishingly exhausting day, so I’m just going with…

What a knob. https://t.co/tzKUE8SllS

— Caroline Dodds Pennock (@carolinepennock) July 17, 2018

8.

As a student, I sat in rapt attention at David Starkey's feet, and have given him the benefit of the doubt on many occasions since, but there's no escaping the fact he's a total prick. https://t.co/CuNQgvVos4

— Marc Morris (@Longshanks1307) July 17, 2018

9.

“Handsome hunk David Starkey, who is often muddled up in the public mind with Poldark’s Aidan Turner….” Said no one ever.

— Helen Barrell (@helenbarrell) July 17, 2018

10.

What a boring man https://t.co/LB2yo70W8m

— Rebecca Rideal (@RebeccaRideal) July 17, 2018

11.

What a twat. https://t.co/Azcv6yAVrf

— Tony Pollard (@ProfTonyPollard) July 17, 2018

12.

David Starkey on the person who ruined David Starkey's career pic.twitter.com/kY3Tjfwgn7

— John Gallagher (@earlymodernjohn) July 17, 2018

With her usual good grace, Professor Beard had this to say.

Sorry that David Starkey feels he isn’t getting enough airtime. Didn’t actually realise it was a beauty competition. And AA Gill must be turning in his grave to think he had launched my career. But hey we can all say silly things “ in a party”. https://t.co/iqpjaD8NYP

— mary beard (@wmarybeard) July 17, 2018

Which sums it up nicely.