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Piers Morgan Rows With Transgender Model Over Controversial Racism Comments

Piers Morgan Rows With Transgender Model Over Controversial Racism Comments

Welcome back, Piers

Michael Minay

Michael Minay

He had only been back on our TV screens for an hour, and already Piers Morgan managed to kick up a storm.

Returning to present Good Morning Britain, Piers Morgan was interviewing (or rather grilling) transgender model Munroe Bergdorf, 29, over her recent comments.

Bergdorf was sacked by L'Oreal after she posted about the 'racial violence' of 'ALL white people' - it follows last month's clashes between protestors and white supremacists in Charlottesville, America.

She appeared on ITV's flagship breakfast show to address her comments, and repeatedly had to ask the host to let her speak and explain her remarks:

Credit: ITV / Good Morning Britain

She told Susanna Reid: "I don't think that all white people are, by nature, racist.

"From conception to birth I think that we are all the same, but we need to speak [about] how we are socialised as people - my post was based on socialisation and racism as a structure.

"It takes actively dismantling racism to be an ally - as if you're not doing anything, then you are helping racism."

The model made history when she became the first transgender model to be taken on by the beauty giant.

But she was recently removed from the company's books, with a spokesperson telling The Sun: "L'Oreal supports diversity and tolerance towards all people irrespective of their race, background, gender and religion."

Credit: ITV / Good Morning Britain

And Piers threw himself into the debate. "White people are racist due to socialising in the same way that men are socialised to be sexist and heterosexual people are socialised to be homophobic," he said.

"I'm a white, straight male guy so I'm enemy number one - so I'm a racist, sexist homophobe by your logic."

She responded: "You are sexist, yes. Some of the things you say are sexist."

Morgan retaliated, saying: "You are calling straight, white guys like me a series of offensive stereotypes."

Credit: ITV / Good Morning Britain

Bergdorf added: "This is why there is a problem, because you are taking it personally... instead of taking it personally, please talk about how to be part of the solution rather than the problem.

"By taking about racism, I am not causing a divide; there is a divide anyway. We need to be speaking about what the root of racism is, the root of sexism is."

Despite receiving criticism from many viewers, Piers was happy to find himself hitting the trending topics on Twitter.

As the debate raged on Morgan asked Bergdorf to explain why, as a white man, he should not be offended by the comment implying 'all' white people are party to social violence.

The model replied: "Because socialism [sic] has placed all white people in a certain privilege that means that if you are not dismantling racism or helping to dismantle racism then you are part of the problem, because that makes you complicit.

"You need to actively work with people of colour to put diversity, which this campaign was about, into place. When L'Oreal fires me for speaking about the origins of racism then that goes completely against what diversity is."

Piers later partly rescinded and said that the pair had 'got off on the wrong foot'.

Featured Image Credit: ITV / Good Morning Britain

Topics: Racism, Good Morning Britain, Piers Morgan, transgender