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Piers Morgan Insists He Wasn't 'Mocking Chinese People' On Good Morning Britain Following Backlash

The divisive breakfast TV presenter has been accused of "racism" after doing an impression of a Chinese advert.

Piers Morgan has doubled down on his defence of a segment on Tuesdayā€™s Good Morning Britain, after he was accused of ā€œmocking Chinese peopleā€.

During the latest instalment of the ITV breakfast show, Piers and Susanna discussed Peter Phillips ā€“ the eldest grandchild of the Queen and Prince Philip ā€“ who recently appeared in a Chinese advert for milk.

After the ad was played on the show, Susanna was left exasperated when Piers began making noises, in what was apparently an imitation of the Chinese brandā€™s name

ā€œI donā€™t know the Chinese for ā€˜I only drinkā€¦ā€™, whatā€™s it called?ā€ he protested.

Piers then requested the ad be played again, after which he declared: ā€œChing chang cho joā€, again trying to repeat what was said in the advert.

Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid
ITV
Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid

His co-host then told him: ā€œYou canā€™t say [that]... taking the mickey out of foreign languages is rather 1970s.ā€

Growing louder, Piers hit back: ā€œSurely you can take the mickey out of it! Heā€™s using ā€˜ching chang chongā€™ milk from the Chinese state ā€“ thatā€™s what they said in the advert!

ā€œI canā€™t repeat what theyā€™re saying in the advertā€¦ Iā€™m trying to mimic the wording of that advertisement.

ā€œBy the way, itā€™s not me flogging the Chinese state milk. Are people going to be more annoyed about me trying to mimic the Chinese State milk ad than they are about a member of the Royal family trying to flog Chinese State milkā€ā€

ā€œYes, Piers, do you not realise the kind of woke times weā€™re living in?ā€ Susanna responded.

ā€œOh godā€¦ā€ Piers then offered, after which the topic of conversation was changed.

After seeing Piersā€™ impression of the Chinese ad, many viewers took issue with it on social media, accusing the host of racismā€¦

One such critic was footballer John Barnes, to whom Piers sent a number of tweets, insisting he was not mocking Chinese people, but mocking ā€œa member of the British royal family appearing in an advert for Chinese state milkā€.

HuffPost UK has contacted representatives for Good Morning Britain for comment.

Last week, Piers was put in his place by Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, after he hit back at the suggestion the mediaā€™s treatment of Meghan Markle has been rooted in racism.

After she accused him of having a ā€œvendettaā€ against the Duchess Of Sussex, Dr Shola said: ā€œWhatā€™s so offensive about this Piers, especially with you. You are a man, privileged to have power and influence and you are using your platform so irresponsibly to spout out this personal vendetta with nasty and vile comments knowing fully well that your words are containing bigotry, misogyny, sexism and racism.ā€

Good Morning Britain airs every weekday from 6am on ITV.

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