Piers Morgan Faces Backlash After Defending Lord Sugar Over 'Racist' Tweet Scandal

The 'GMB' presenter waded into the row and was instantly schooled.
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Piers Morgan has come under fire for leaping to the defence of Lord Sugar after he was branded racist for a tweet he posted on Wednesday.

The ‘Apprentice’ star was forced to apologise after sparking a backlash when he shared a photo of the Senegal football team likening them to beach sellers.

Piers Morgan came to Lord Sugar's defence
Piers Morgan came to Lord Sugar's defence
Rex/Shutterstock/ITV

Sugar initally refused to apologise for the tweet claiming he thought people’s reactions were “OTT”, but later removed the post and said he was “very sorry” for the joke, which he said had been “misinterpreted”.

As conversation about Sugar’s tweet continued, Piers waded into the row to insist his friend is “not a racist”.

Lord Sugar came under fire for posting this tweet
Lord Sugar came under fire for posting this tweet
Twitter

He wrote: “I’ve known @Lord_Sugar for 25 years. He can be a halfwit of biblical proportions, and prone to terrible ‘jokes’ as we saw today. But he’s not a racist.”

I've known @Lord_Sugar for 25 years.
He can be a halfwit of biblical proportions, and prone to terrible 'jokes' as we saw today.
But he's not a racist.

— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) June 20, 2018

But Piers then found himself on the receiving end of a backlash for defending Sugar, with many of his followers explaining why the tweet was offensive.

This was your chance to gain credibility by standing up for whats right. Sadly you bottled it because he is your friend. Saying nothing at all would have been the better choice @piersmorgan than jumping to his defence.

— JEFF (@JEFFWHUR) June 20, 2018

So all sellers on the beach in Marbella wear Senegal’s national football team uniform? Or did he really recognised the individual players? Or just made a tweet about how all black people look the same and all they do is selling stuff in Marbella?Tell me where’s the joke please?

— Victoria Strain (@belfastvik) June 20, 2018

You need to question why he thought it appropriate to associate a black football team playing in the World Cup with those men he encountered selling sunglasses on the beach. It’s so obvious and condescending.😒

— Michael Brown (@BoogieBrown43) June 20, 2018

Awh pierce is sticking up for his mate. We weren’t expecting any different. If this was @lilyallen you will asking for her head!!!

— Monaco_Francs® (@monaco_francs) June 20, 2018

Yes, but he is guilty of being epically out of touch though Morgan

He is a member of the lords and show how out of touch he is

He's called Labour leadership out for it's anti-Semitism then tweets this

He's an employee of the BBC

It's not acceptable

— Ryan (@TheRealRYAN1987) June 20, 2018

I don't think you can determine who is a racist or not because you don't know how racism feels like.

— Grace (@GracyEze95) June 21, 2018

Love how you give the benefit of the doubt to friends, but those you hardly know, are tried and convicted in your inner justice system, before all facts are known. (Bradley Wiggins)

— Paul Woods (@ennyluap) June 20, 2018

Any joke being made about colour,culture,disability,sexuality or religion is not acceptable, people face abuse daily due to any of the above.

— Gemslb (@gemslb) June 20, 2018

You also think Donald Trump is a good guy, says a lot for your opinion of people

— Jan Cossins (@JanCossins) June 21, 2018

You ought to know what a racist tweet looks like. I don't trust your judgement. P.S. The tweet was racist. https://t.co/RZEIsLpSvl

— Taz B (@TahrynBarratt) June 20, 2018

Funny how you gave Eric Bristow a hard time for a tweet and now your defending exactly the same thing #DoubleStandards

— The_Jordanairre1890 (@Jordanairre) June 20, 2018

The BBC had faced calls to fire Lord Sugar from his role on ‘The Apprentice’ amid the scandal, but the corporation stood by him.

In a statement, an official spokesperson said: “Lord Sugar has acknowledged this was a seriously misjudged tweet, and he’s in no doubt about our view on this.

“It’s right he’s apologised unreservedly.”

This is far from the first time Sugar has posted offensive tweets that have caused controversy. Back in March, he was condemned for posting a Jeremy Corbyn meme likening him to a Nazi.

He originally brushed off criticism telling one person who called the meme “completely disgraceful” to simply “shut up”, but eventually issued a full apology after being called out by Labour MP John McDonnell.

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