British Museum Chair George Osborne brokered and waved through controversial Tapestry sponsorship, emails reveal

  • Emails released under FOI rules reveal George Osborne waved through deal with “no concerns” flagged about IDF-linked billionaire’s controversial “gift” to museum
  • Museum criticised for naming new members space the ‘Igor Tulchinsky Room’ as part of package of profile-boosting benefits sold to billionaire sponsor
  • Igor Tulchinsky will be ‘Honorary Chairman’ of high-profile ‘Red Ball’ this Saturday, 17th October, in museum’s Great Court 

FOI documents are available to view here with additional reporting and background in Middle East Eye.

Fresh concerns have been raised about controversial billionaire Igor Tulchinsky’s sponsorship of the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition at The British Museum after internal emails revealed how Chair George Osborne both brokered the relationship, and waved through the deal, despite details of Tulchinsky’s ties to Israeli defence technology and illegal settlements in the West Bank being publicly available. 

The documents, released under Freedom of Information (FOI) rules, have been made public as the museum prepares to host its high-profile ‘Red Ball’ on Saturday where Tulchinsky will be attending as the ‘Honorary Chair’, and reveal how:

  • After receiving a “request for Chair approval” from the museum’s Director of Development, George Osborne gave the go-ahead to full negotiations with Igor Tulchinsky less than 90 minutes after receiving an internal report showing “Key Due Diligence Flags” on the proposed sponsor but replying with a single line email that he was “happy to proceed”
  • Despite numerous concerns having now come to light regarding Tulchinsky’s ties to Israeli defence technology, the Director of Development informed Osborne at that time that there were “no concerns” regarding his proposed “gift” to the museum in October 2025 
  • On 24 November 2025, the Director of Development confirmed by email that “Igor is going to commit to sponsorship of BT [Bayeux Tapestry]” which she told Osborne is “Really good news and thank you so much for the introduction”

The museum’s Director of Development went on to share a stage with Tulchinsky at a prestigious sector conference to promote the sponsorship deal and she was also the host of Peter Thiel – the billionaire founder of Palantir, a tech firm that supplies the Israeli military – for his controversial private viewing of the Bayeux Tapestry.

Tulchinsky’s £5m sponsorship of the Bayeux Tapestry has seen the billionaire provided with a range of priceless boosts to his public profile and influence, including: 

Extract from British Museum website

A spokesperson for Culture Unstained, which campaigns against fossil fuel sponsorship and unethical philanthropy, including at The British Museum, has said:

“From shrugging off BP’s dire record on climate change to seemingly overlooking Tulchinsky’s ties to illegal Israeli settlements, The British Museum’s ‘due diligence’ process for sponsors is an absolute joke. But endorsing and partnering with those tied to occupation and climate breakdown is no joke.

These documents suggest that Chair George Osborne is both able to broker relationships with morally bankrupt billionaires and then also approve their reputation-enhancing partnerships with the Museum, while other Trustees may know little about who they are getting into bed with. The Museum’s approach to ethical sponsorship needs a complete overhaul.

Last year, the Museum’s partnership with tobacco giant JTI was finally ended – but only after the Department of Health and Social Care flagged how it breached the World Health Organisation’s ‘Framework Convention on Tobacco Control’. Now, with UK government sanctions on trade with illegal settlements in the West Bank, the Museum must review Tulchinsky’s ties and act accordingly. To go ahead with Tulchinsky as the specially invited Chair of Saturday’s ‘Red Ball’ is not only distasteful, it’s morally bankrupt.….”

On Saturday 17 October, The British Museum will host the ‘Red Ball’ where Tulchinsky will be the Honorary Chair of the event and designer Es Devlin the Artistic Director. Devlin, whose retrospective ‘Other Worlds’ exhibition opened at the Design Museum earlier this month, was also the designer for ‘Together for Palestine’ concert at Wembley Arena in 2025. As part of the Red Ball, the museum is offering exclusive private views of the Bayeux Tapestry as well as running a fundraising auction with lots including a Behind-the-scenes tour of the BBC with broadcaster Martha Kearney and an out-of-hours tour with a museum curator and Trustee Claudia Winkleman. 

Extract from British Museum press release for the Red Ball

Tulchinsky’s financing of a community centre in an illegal Israeli settlement on the Occupied West Bank appears to be in breach of recently announced UK government sanctions. On 8th September 2026, foreign secretary Ed Miliband announced UK government sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements on the West Bank, stating: “So to those who finance or facilitate illegal settlements, let me say this: You will face the full force of UK sanctions. Settlements are illegal. They should not be promoted in our country.”

In February, it was reported that the British Museum had removed terms such as “Palestine”, “Palestinian” and “Israelite occupation” from some of its displays on the ancient Middle East. Freedom of information disclosures exposed three specific text changes fast-tracked by British Museum staff following targeted lobbying. Last year, The British Museum also hosted an Israeli Independence celebration for the Israeli embassy on 13th May 2025, attended by the country’s then-ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, who has spoken in support of the destruction of Gaza. 200 leading cultural workers called on the institution to apologise for hosting the event and over 250 museum staff wrote to Museum leadership to demand an explanation and an apology.

The British Museum continues to face opposition to its stance on sponsorship and private giving including its 10-year partnership with the oil and gas company BP which runs until 2033. In August, the Science Museum announced that its decades-long partnership with BP had come to an end following the company’s continued failure to align its business with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement and ramping up of new fossil fuel drilling. This leaves The British Museum as the last major UK museum or gallery still taking money from BP.

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