LBC presenter James O'Brien has stated he feels "like a mug" after previously defending Cambridge University professor Jason Arday, who resigned this week following an investigation into allegations of plagiarism and fabrication.
O'Brien, who had previously criticized media coverage of Arday, described his reaction to the professor's resignation as "very, very personal." He added that while he does not feel guilt, he felt persuaded to defend Arday by the professor himself, who was aware he had "done wrong."
"Who would meet a Cambridge professor and immediately start thinking, 'God, I wonder whether you actually deserve to be there?' I certainly wouldn't do that," O'Brien said, suggesting that only a racist would have doubted Arday's credentials as a Cambridge professor of sociology of education.
Arday, who was the university's youngest Black incumbent, resigned after Cambridge launched an investigation into claims he plagiarized parts of his PhD thesis. He also faced allegations of exaggerating claims about his personal life. These included assertions in a 2024 book proposal that he had locked-in syndrome and testicular cancer, though these were not included in the final version of the memoir. The proposal also reportedly contained inconsistencies in dates and characters compared to later accounts, according to US magazine The Atlantic.
Further scrutiny revealed other claims made by Arday, such as running 600 miles in six days and raising millions for charity. He also claimed to have appeared in the television series "Seven Up," which first aired more than two decades before his birth in 1985. Universities including Glasgow, Durham, and Ohio State University in the U.S. have also stated Arday did not hold academic positions within their institutions.
Cambridge announced its investigation into Arday's conduct on Wednesday evening, and he subsequently resigned. In a statement, Arday said the situation had gone beyond scholarly disagreement and that the "relentless accusations, speculation and public commentary have taken a profound toll on me and on those I love." He characterized his resignation as a decision by someone "who has reached the limits of what any person should reasonably be expected to endure," and not an acceptance of the narratives surrounding him or a loss of faith in scholarship.