Journalist Piers Morgan is no stranger to controversy. He's made headlines this year for several contentious opinions, including ones that belittled Megan Markle and Prince Harry after they came out about their struggles within the royal family.
However, this time he may have gone too far. After his latest negative tweet, geared towards athletes and their mental health, Redditors are wondering why he hasn’t been cancelled.
Morgan tweeted a criticism towards athletes after Gymnast Simone Biles pulled out of the all-around competition at the Tokyo Olympics on July 27th to focus on her mental health:
On July 31st, Biles also announced her withdrawal from the event finals for vault and uneven bars. The move comes after tennis champion Naomi Osaka similarly pulled out of three major tennis competitions this year, citing mental health concerns.
Not surprisingly, Morgan received a lot of backlash for his tweet made on July 27th.
Many social media users, including Twitter users and Redditors, criticized Morgan for being “outdated,” not knowing what it’s like to be an athlete himself, and being ignorant to the fact that everyone has unique mental experiences.
There were many (including the USA Gymnastics' official governing body) who stood up for Biles, and maintained that she is a great role model, despite Morgan's opinions. Furthermore, many brought up the saddening fact that athletes have long been silent about their mental health due to fear of this very sort of stigmatization.
There were some Redditors who directly called for Morgan to retire, and questioned why he hasn’t been "cancelled" yet.
Morgan made headlines for all the wrong reasons earlier this year, also after criticizing mental health struggles. After Meghan Markle spoke out during an Oprah Winfrey special about her struggles with suicidal thoughts, Morgan stated he “did not believe a word” she said. His tweets also mentioned the words “victimhood,” “hypocrites,” and “attention-seeking” when describing Markle and Harry:
It seems as though the public expected Morgan to be cancelled after he was called out by weather presenter, Alex Beresford, for his comments towards Markle. During the televised confrontation, Morgan infamously walked off the set of Good Morning Britain and shortly after, quit the program. However, he has continued to be vocal on social media.
Morgan has had a long career in media, beginning as a freelancer at The Sun in 1988. He has since worked as editor for the Daily Mirror, and has appeared on several reality TV shows, including Britain's Got Talent. He has faced several controversies throughout his career, and according to the public's comments, it seems as though this may be one of his final battles.