Alastair Stewart to leave ITV News.

Alastair Stewart responded to a black man on Twitter with a passage about "an angry ape" from Shakespeare's Measure for Measure.

But it also seems worth pointing out that he previously used this passage to respond to at least one other tweeter who was not identifiably black... pic.twitter.com/MZgyyPlJuC

— Etan Smallman (@EtanSmallman) January 29, 2020

I was expecting Alastair to leave sooner than later given his reduced role in recent years, but it’s very sad it’s ended this way. He was always passionate on Twitter about the need for TV news to remain impartial especially in our politically charged times. I will miss his presence on ITV News greatly.

Hellfire. What a mistake to make. It will be a shame to see him go but if he's done something like that then he has to go.

If you read his backstory on Private Eye he seems to be a bit of a handful - to say the least.

The culture war arguments have started on twitter.

I don't use Twitter that much.

I only use it to retweet stuff and to look at tweets.

That explains why some were saying the tweet was from 2018 then if he used that quote more than once

Not the first person who has lost their reputation and job because of a moment of stupidity on social media, and he won't be the last

“A very good night to you”.

He lives near me. I see him out and about, in fact being a non viewer of ITV News, I probably see more of him 'for real' than on the telly! He's a larger than life character, a shame it's ended like this, I remember him popping up for the first time on Southern's Day by Day almost 40 years ago. I think that was his first broadcasting gig?

I'm gutted at this. He was reading news when I was a kid and teenager and also a colleague when I went to work for London News Network. He hasn't a racist bone in his body. This was an absolutely innocent mistake, yet unfortunately in the climate we live in, keyboard warriors will pick up on anything and turn it into something it totally isn't.

One of the greatest careers in television news, marred by one mistake.

Will miss him!