Piers Morgan has admitted that his ITV colleagues complained about him to bosses as they accused him of being “ableist”.
The 55-year-old opinionated Good Morning Britain host revealed he had been complained about over claims of “ableism” after he suggested able-bodied Hollywood actors should be able to play disabled parts.
According to The Sun, Piers fumed: “I was accused of being ableist because I believe that the best way to advance the rights of disabled people in the entertainment world is not to automatically give all disabled roles to disabled people.
“Otherwise we would never have had Tom Cruise in Born on the Fourth of July, or Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot or Tom Hanks in Philadelphia.
Piers Morgan’s outspoken views are aired weekly on GMB (Image: ITV)
“Huge box office stars shine a light on these things, which then does immeasurably good for all the causes.
“I don’t think the answer is to just say automatically that every disabled role goes to someone who’s disabled. And the same applies to gay roles.”
The former Britain’s Got Talent judge continued: “It just seems to me just pointless virtue signalling and it probably wouldn’t work because you’re then reliant on actors in most cases that people have never heard of launching a film like, you know, Philadelphia.
The GMB host revealed he was complained about over claims of “ableism” (Image: ITV)
“Adam Pearson, you know the guy, the disabled presenter – he was on my side.
“But some people at ITV were complaining to the top about me being ableist, and that’s where the pressure gets to you. It’s madness.”
Next month Piers is publishing a new book, Wake Up: Why The World Has Gone Nuts, and by his own admission is a feminist, has scores of gay friends, backs trans rights, and is hugely supportive of the ongoing TV diversity drive.
Next month Piers is publishing a new book called Wake Up: Why The World Has Gone Nuts (Image: Getty Images for BAFTA LA)
He continued: “The book’s about everything from gender, to race, to identity, politics, to sexism, to feminism, to masculinity: all these things, we’ve all got to get a collective grip.
“So I’m hoping the book, when it comes out, will wake people up and at the very least, let us have a debate without everyone throwing their toys out the pram.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
