ITV has issued an apology after receiving 1,500 complaints following a Good Morning Britain interview where Piers Morgan mimicked the Chinese language. The incident, which occurred back in January, took place when Piers and his co-host, Susanna Reid, discussed royal Peter Phillips' involvement in a Chinese milk commercial.
ITV issued a statement after the incident received 1,500 complaints
The statement read: "GMB is known for its lively and robust discussion of the news agenda and recently covered Peter Phillips' appearance in a Chinese milk advertisement. The discussion was focused on whether it was appropriate for members of the Royal family to endorse products abroad in this manner, and was live and unscripted. Piers Morgan's comments, and his mimicking of the Chinese language in the advertisement, was a spontaneous reaction to the advertisement."
READ: Bill Turnbull to replace Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain
It continued: "These comments were intended to mock a member of the Royal Family and were not intended to mock or denigrate Chinese people, their language or accent. ITV regrets any offence Piers' comments may unintentionally have caused." The TV presenter himself addressed the incident on Twitter back in January, writing: "I was mocking a member of the British royal family appearing in an advert for Chinese state milk, not Chinese people."
READ: Susanna Reid wore a red sequin dress for GMB's Oscars coverage and it deserves an award of its own
WATCH: Piers Morgan on Philip Schofield's brave announcement
Piers apologised to another guest on Wednesday after a heated discussion with teenager Naomi Seibt, who has been dubbed the 'anti-Greta Thunberg'. During their discussion, Piers asked her if she believed the planet was heating up as a dangerous rate, then denied he had said 'dangerous rate'. Following the interview, he explained: "Just want to be fair to one of our guests Naomi Seibt earlier, when said I said I’d said to her, “'s the planet heating up' and didn’t say 'at a dangerous rate'. A lot of viewers saying I did say, 'Is it heating up at a dangerous rate?' and she responded to that. If that is right then she was quite right to push back on that."
