Piers Morgan has come under fire for comments he made about Ariana Grande in the wake of the terrorist attack at the US singer’s concert in Manchester on Monday.
Ariana had just finished performing at the Manchester Arena when a suspected suicide bomber detonated a device, killing 22 people.
The 23-year-old tweeted shortly afterwards that she was “broken” by the attack and subsequently postponed her Dangerous Woman tour after flying back to the US.
However, the ‘Good Morning Britain’ presenter took aim at the singer, suggesting she should have stayed in the UK and visited the survivors, after Katy Perry tweeted a photo of The Queen at a Manchester hospital.
Piers then tweeted: “Might have been nice if @ArianaGrande had stayed to do the same.”
Understandably, it did not go down well on social media, with many accusing him of being “insensitive”.
When one Twitter user pointed out that Ariana was “probably traumatised herself”, Piers responded: “Probably not as much as those killed & wounded. She should have stayed to visit her injured fans.”
Another called for him to be fired from ‘Good Morning Britain’, but the presenter refused to back down, tweeting: “I think she should have stayed & visited victims. It was her show & they are her fans..”
Fellow broadcaster Eamonn Holmes also found himself on the receiving end of criticism earlier this week, following comments he made on social media about Greater Manchester Police’s investigation into the bombing.
The ‘This Morning’ presenter referred to Chief Constable Ian Hopkins as “PC Plod” after he issued a televised statement about the incident.
He tweeted: “19 people dead – probably kids killed four and a half hours ago and PC Plod of Greater Manchester Police adds no narrative to what happened.”
He later added: “Totally unilluminating statement from The Chief Constable of Greater Manchester. We are none the wiser after that. Treating the British public like idiots.”
He eventually deleted the first tweet after he was called out on Twitter for his choice of words.
One Twitter user said: “You sit back in comfort on your high horse, whilst members of the emergency services deal with things you can’t ever imagine!”