British former television figure Piers Morgan has drawn more contempt after unleashing his negative and unwanted scorn once again on a young woman of color.
Tennis star Naomi Osaka withdrew from the French Open Monday after being fined $15,000 for not participating in mandatory post-match conferences; the 23-year-old cited maintaining her mental health as the reason. Morgan’s Twitter reaction, followed by the Daily Mail column he authored then shared, garnered widespread eyerolls.
In a commentary titled “Narcissistic Naomi’s cynical exploitation of mental health to silence the media is right from the Meghan and Harry playbook of wanting their press cake and eating it,” Morgan wrote that tennis player Naomi Osaka is “an arrogant spoiled brat whose fame and fortune appears to have inflated her ego to gigantic proportions. How else to explain her extraordinary decision to announce she will no longer participate in media press conferences, supposedly to protect her mental health?”
Kenya business executive Donald B. Kipkorir was one social media user who responded to Morgan’s comments, writing on Twitter that “Meghan Markle & Naomi Osaka are women of color who are at the peak of human social strata & both have complained of depression wrought on them by the media. Instead of embracing them, Britain allows race-whistlers like Piers Morgan to pooh-Pooh their mental anguish. Has to stop.”
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Morgan famously attacked Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, after her early March interview with Oprah Winfrey, in which she said she experienced racist treatment and suffered from depression.
Morgan’s comments toward the Duchess triggered 57,121 complaints to the watchdog agency that monitors British television. Morgan walked off the set of his former show, Good Morning Britain, after being scolded by fellow presenter Alex Beresford.
And most people couldn’t wait to remind him.
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“Piers Morgan walked off his own show’s set after 90 seconds of gentle critique,” U.S. House candidate Qasim Rashid wrote on Twitter, “but can’t understand why Naomi Osaka withdrew from one tennis match after years of media ignited mental health struggles. Smh.”
In response to the outcry, Morgan tweeted an old picture of himself with Serena Williams, writing, “Yes trolls, I have a real problem with female black tennis stars.”
“What journalist will dare criticise Naomi Osaka ever again?” he added. “She’s got what she wanted – no more criticism, only praise. Meanwhile, all her fellow tennis professionals will continue to fulfil their contractual obligations to the media & get criticism when deserved. This seem fair?”
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