Presenter Piers Morgan has withdrawn from hosting a TV awards ceremony in London after a campaign was launched to remove him because of his support for Donald Trump.
Morgan agreed last Thursday to host the forthcoming Royal Television Society (RTS) Programme awards.
However, a petition was begun after he was announced as the host stating it was “not acceptable” for him to be involved. Although it gained only 200 or so signatures, Morgan quickly decided to quit, saying he did not want to distract from the event.
Among those who criticized Morgan was American-born writer Bonnie Greer (pictured), who is an RTS awards judge. She has lived in the UK since 1986 and became a naturalized citizen in 1997.
Greer, 68, tweeted that she was “honoured to be a judge” for the awards but would not attend the dinner because of Morgan backing Trump, who has attacked TV news organisations as “enemies of the American people”.
However, Morgan’s co-presenter on his breakfast TV show, Good Morning Britain, backed him, calling the petition “a real shame”. Susannah Reid said: “There’s a lot that @piersmorgan and I disagree on. But as someone who knows what a very good presenter he is, I think this is a real shame.”
In a statement on his Facebook page, Morgan said he had agreed to present the awards “for fun” but that a campaign to have him “banned” had been launched. He said it criticized his creative credentials and suggested he did not “understand a social movement that values equality and diversity of voice”.
“Apparently, this movement does not extend to tolerating my own diverse voice,” he wrote.
This marks the second time in less than a month that Morgan’s views have been used to derail his professional activities.
In January, actor Ewan McGregor refused to appear on Good Morning Britain because of critical comments Morgan made about the Women’s March in Washington DC.