The 10 worst things Piers Morgan has said in 2017
This Morning host Piers Morgan
Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan has spent the better part of this year having a go at non-binary and gender neutral people.
He’s also attacked Harry Potter author JK Rowling, as well as celebrities with mental health issues. Oh, and he repeatedly asked Caitlyn Jenner about her genitals.
Safe to say, Piers hasn’t held back in 2017.
Here’s a look at some of his most shocking opinions, criticisms and rants.
1. “Virtue-signalling clowns”
Just last month, Piers lashed out at Good Morning Britain co-hosts Susanna Reid and Charlotte Hawkins amid yet another rant about gender identity.
Piers read out a headline on GMB, saying: “This headline says, ‘Stop calling pupils girls’ – when they’re girls. ‘It reminds them of their gender’.
“‘Girls’ schools should not refer to pupils as girls or ladies because it means they’re constantly reminded of their gender.'”
He was referring to former Government mental health tsar Natasha Devon, who suggested that children should not be constantly reminded of their gender.
Eventually, Morgan hit out at Hawkins and Reid – who had both attempted to stop him from ranting – calling them “virtue-signalling clowns”.
2. “I am proudly and unapologetically identifying as a male”
Also last month, Piers “proudly and unapologetically” came out as male in a column where he criticised parents who allow their children to self-identify their gender.
In yet another attack on trans and non-binary young people, he wrote a column for the MailOnline titled: “For God’s sake let boys be boys, and girls be girls, and stop this charge to turn them all into ‘non-binary, gender fluid creatures of indeterminate sexuality.”
He wrote: “I’m a man… There, I’ve said it. At the risk of offending the world’s increasing army of hypersensitive PC-crazed snowflakes, I am proudly and unapologetically identifying as a male.”
3. ‘Non-binary children are a contagion’
Earlier this year, Piers interviewed non-binary couple Fox Fisher and Owl on GMB, where he told them: “Schools are now running riot with non-binary kids. It’s like a contagion.”
“It’s not a disease,” they replied. “That’s what they said about homosexuality 20 years ago.”
Nonplussed, Morgan – who is now identifying as a male packet of cheese and onion crisps – continued: “My problem with everyone being able to identify as they choose is: where does that end?
“If kids can come in and say they’re not a boy or girl anymore, what else can they say they’re not?
“Is anything fine? Can I say I’m an elephant? I don’t think it’s silly,” he finished.
The host also said that non-binary kids were “a massive new fad”, asking the pair: “How many trans youths in Britain [died by] suicide last year?
“I’ve heard it’s like, two or three people,” he answered himself. “It’s incredibly small.”
It’s not. Nearly half of trans kids in Britain have attempted suicide.
4. Repeatedly asking about Caitlyn Jenner’s genitals
(Getty and YouTube/Good Morning Britain)
In October, Piers repeatedly asked Caitlyn Jenner about her genitals during a TV interview.
“How does your physique compare now to what it did then?” he asked. “Obviously, certain areas we know about.”
This was understandably too much for Jenner, who told him: “You made a comment there and that’s why you would get in trouble, okay?
“You said ‘certain areas’ – that, to a trans-person, is disrespectful.”
“I take that very seriously and so out of respect to myself and the community, it’s not something that you joke about.”
Jenner added: “This is serious stuff. People die over these issues. It’s not a joke.”
Morgan ended the conversation by saying: “Point taken.”
5. ‘Wearing trousers is for boys’
(ITV)
Back in September, Piers said that wearing trousers is for boys.
The Good Morning Britain host was reacting to news that his former school has made its uniform gender-neutral by banning skirts.
Priory School in the south of England made the move to be more inclusive of its transgender pupils, and will allow students of all genders to wear shorts or skorts in summer.
Morgan tweeted: “It’s not even ‘neutral’. They’re just making the girls dress like boys. Utterly absurd.”
The school’s headteacher, Tony Smith, told PinkNews: “We wanted a uniform for everyone.”
6. ‘The gender fluid movement is absurd’
In yet another attack on gender fluid people, Piers called them “absurd”.
It started when Kori Doty – a non-binary parent who has been in the news over their battle to exclude new baby Searyl’s biological sex from their birth certificate – was interviewed by Piers on GMB.
Morgan asked Doty if they were “born male or female” and repeatedly badgered them about their genitals.
Doty, from British Columbia in Canada, smartly hit back by asking: “If that’s the direction this conversation is going to go, can I ask you if one of your testicles hangs lower?”
Morgan was flummoxed, which gave Doty the opportunity to tell him: “What someone’s genitals look like when they are born does not actually give us accurate information about their gender.”
Piers then wrote about Doty in the Mail on Sunday, constantly misgendering them by writing “he/she” instead of “they”.
Morgan continued: “My number one pet hate at the moment is the absurd ‘gender fluid’ movement, driven by people who don’t wish to be defined as either male or female.
“Today, a ‘non-binary genderfluid’ Canadian named Kori Doty appeared on GMB to defend his/her decision to also define his/her newborn baby as non-binary gender fluid.”
He continued: “As we dived into the technical weeds of the debate, Mr/Mrs Doty declared: ‘What someone’s genitals look like when they are born does not actually give us information about their gender.’
“Of course not, why would any of us think otherwise?” Morgan added sarcastically.
7. “Will Young does not have PTSD”
Taking a break from the gender debate for a moment, Piers sparked something of a backlash this year when he made fun of Will Young for saying he had mental health issues.
Young, who mysteriously quit reality show Strictly Come Dancing last year, revealed he had battled with post-traumatic stress disorder.
The former Pop Idol singer, who came out in 2002, also opened up to The Times magazine about struggling with an addiction to porn and love.
“Will Young does not have PTSD,” Piers announced on Twitter.
“He has WNTS – Whiny Needy Twerp Syndrome.”
Piers responded to angry replies by saying that mental illness has “become a massively over-used term that damages focus for those with real issues”.
“Seriously, is there any celebrity left in the world not currently suffering from PTSD?” he added.
8. ‘Celebs use mental health problems as an accessory’
Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid on GMB (ITV)
In the same month, and along the same lines, Piers slammed celebrities who have opened up about their mental health.
The journalist and TV presenter wrote on Twitter that he believed some stars play the “victim card”.
Piers accused them of competing to “play the biggest victim,” and said stars such as Lady Gaga, Madonna, every Kardashian and Chrissy Teigen use mental health problems as an “accessory”.
He also wrote on Twitter at the time: “Celebrities are all doing it now to garner sympathy & enhance their brand”.
9. “I’m going to call myself an Arsenal tragic gender”
(Getty)
Getting back to gender, Piers ridiculed non-binary people and anyone else who doesn’t identify as a man or a woman in another rant earlier this year.
“We can’t become men obviously – we become persons,” he said. “And everything becomes gender neutral.”
He then told journalist Harriet Minter, who hosts Badass Women’s Hour on TalkRADIO: “‘I’m going to call myself an Arsenal tragic gender.
“Can I do that? Do you respect my right to call myself an Arsenal tragic?
“Am I allowed to have my own category at award ceremonies, only for Arsenal tragics? Yes or no?”
10. Attacking JK Rowling
We’ve had enough of Piers’ frustration with gender neutral and non-binary people, so we’re going to end our list with JK Rowling vs Piers Morgan.
This summer, JK Rowling tweeted in celebration of the first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (‘the Sorcerer’s Stone’ in the US), which was released 20 years ago, on 26 June, 1997.
She wrote: “20 years ago today a world that I had lived in alone was suddenly open to others. It’s been wonderful. Thank you.”
Morgan, a vocal critic of JK and the Harry Potter franchise, hit back with: “20 years of conning the easily mesmerised masses with execrable literary hogwartwash. Congrats.”
We catalogued the pair’s feud from the beginning, so take a look at some more vitriol if you can stomach it.
