No way for Jay as Observer HQ event cancelled

As discontent rumbles at Guardian Media Group over the sale of the Observer, a sold-out event with departing Obs food writer Jay Rayner in the King’s Place building which also houses the publisher’s HQ has been unexpectedly and mysteriously cancelled.

Rayner, who will depart for the Financial Times in February and who has been critical of Guardian editor-in-chief Katherine Viner over what he sees as her failure to confront anti-Semitism among hacks, was due to be interviewed on stage by colleague Grace Dent.

Rats understands that no explanation has been given for the cancellation bar “operational reasons”, but that a lack of interest was certainly not the problem – all 415 tickets had been sold, and audience members had ordered over 100 copies of Rayner’s new book Nights Out At Home.

Ticketholders have been refunded and the event seems unlikely to be rescheduled for King’s Place, sparing potential embarrassment for Viner and other GMG bosses.