Katie Hopkins leaves MailOnline 'by mutual consent'

Broadcaster Katie Hopkins has left MailOnline after two years as a columnist for the website.

The presenter, who first rose to prominence as a contestant on The Apprentice in 2007, joined MailOnline in November 2015.

Hopkins is known for her controversial opinions and regularly attracts criticism for her views.

A MailOnline spokesperson said: "Katie's contract was not renewed by mutual consent."

No reason has been given for Hopkins leaving the website. The BBC has contacted Hopkins' management for comment.

It also appears that Hopkins' tweets are currently being deleted from her Twitter account.

She tweeted on Monday that she had registered to a website that deletes tweets - although that message then disappeared.

The writer and broadcaster also parted company with radio station LBC in May, where she had a regular show.

She caused anger just before she left the station when she tweeted that there must be a "final solution" in dealing with terrorists following the Manchester terror attack.

Some followers questioned her use of the phrase "final solution" - a term used by the Nazis to refer to the Holocaust - but later Hopkins altered it to "true solution", describing the earlier version as a "mis-type".

Earlier this year, food writer Jack Monroe won £24,000 in damages, plus £107,000 in legal costs, in a libel action against Hopkins after a row over two tweets, which Monroe said caused "serious harm" to her reputation.

Hopkins was later told by the High Court she could not appeal against the ruling, but she has applied to the Court of Appeal in an attempt to have that decision reconsidered.

Last December, she apologised to a Muslim family she accused of being extremists after they were refused entry to the US for a Disneyland trip.

MailOnline, which published her claim, also paid £150,000 in libel damages to the Mahmood family.

Hopkins has gradually built up her reputation as a controversial figure since 2013, when she appeared on This Morning during a discussion about children's names.

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