Ian Hislop opened the BBC’s Have I Got News For You broadcast this evening with a joke about his recent taxi incident.
‘I always say at this point I’m glad to be here, but this week I really mean it,’ he said, following an incident which saw the rear window of a taxi he was travelling in smash.
It was initially believed the London black taxi had been hit by a bullet, but the Metropolitan Police have since confirmed there is ‘no evidence of a firearms discharge at this time’.
Police said they are continuing to investigate the circumstances around the incident that took place in Soho on Tuesday morning.
Private Eye editor Hislop said on the BBC comedy quiz show: ‘There was one high point when a policeman investigating me said “this may be a silly question, but is there anyone who might have a grudge against you?”‘
His fellow team captain Paul Merton joked: ‘I have an alibi.’
Following the incident, Hislop issued a statement thanking ‘everyone for their concern’.
‘He can confirm that there was an incident in a taxi yesterday in which a rear window shattered, and the police are investigating,’ the statement said.
‘They were initially looking into the possibility of a shot having been fired but have now indicated that there may be another more innocent explanation for what happened.’
The investigation followed a call from the driver, who had reported he was ‘stationary in traffic in Dean Street when a shot was fired towards his vehicle, striking the window and damaging it’.
No injuries were reported, with police launching an investigation, and seizing the vehicle.
The incident took place near a junction on Oxford Street, close to where Private Eye’s offices are located.
A local worker, who asked not to be named, told the Mail: ‘I just saw the taxi in the street – it was parked just up there.
‘My colleague spotted it – all of the window at the back was smashed in, just a little black cab.
‘I think I saw it at about 10.30am – with all the police alongside.’
Hislop has been team captain on the BBC comedy current affairs quiz show since its first episode in 1990, and has been the editor of Private Eye magazine since 1986.
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Have I Got News For You airs on BBC One at 9pm every Friday.