Twitter is criticizing Piers Morgan’s mistaken praise for the late Larry King. King passed away today at the age of 87 due to unknown circumstances.
Piers Morgan is receiving criticism on Twitter for a tweet that praises Larry King with an unusual choice of anecdote. King, a seminal figure in evening TV broadcasts, passed away today at the age of 87 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Media, King’s producer, did not specify the cause of death. King was diagnosed with COVID-19 in late December, for which he was treated with supplemental oxygen. King’s son, Chance Armstrong, confirmed the death of the media giant.
Morgan, also a famous TV personality, has directed several of his own shows, including Piers Morgan Live and Good Morning Britain, which he currently co-hosts with Susanna Reid. The British talk show host is famous for making irreverent and unpleasant jokes in public forums that often miss the target. Over several passages on popular reality shows like America have talent and Britain’s TalentsMorgan was involved in a series of controversies and feuds that earned him a reputation as a combative and provocative public figure. Morgan has been an especially unpopular character on social media and has often been the target of Twitterverse’s anger and mockery.
Along with others who pay homage to King’s legacy, Morgan tweeted a rather strange anecdote about the talk show host that drew the scrutiny of Twitter users. To his credit, Morgan shared that King was a “hero of [his]”but qualified this compliment with a strange story about a conflict between the two broadcast anchors. Here is the controversial tweet in question:
Larry King was a hero of mine until we fought after I replaced him on CNN and he said my show was ‘like watching your mother-in-law fall off a cliff in her new Bentley’. (He has been married 8 times, so he is a mother-in-law expert) But he was a brilliant presenter and a masterful TV interviewer. pic.twitter.com/1JsXeeZYEk
– Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) January 23, 2021
Critics noted some oddities in the Morgan tribute that many considered rude and disrespectful. Some noted that the story put Morgan at its center and specifically emphasized the success of his own career over King’s, despite King’s indisputably impacting legacy:
Imagine making someone else’s death on you.
– Ryan Knight 🌹 (@ProudSocialist) January 23, 2021
Piers Morgan is a professional troll. There is no barrel that it does not scrape to get attention, and we should all ignore it collectively.
– Talia Lee 🏳️🌈 (@Eelailatan) January 23, 2021
What is the purpose of this tweet? Couldn’t you just say that he was a brilliant presenter and masterful TV interviewer and that it was a privilege to follow him on CNN? Would that have been so difficult?
– Paul Gundlach (@PaulSGundlach) January 23, 2021
Others questioned Morgan’s choice to share an indirect quote from King that could be interpreted as a painting of the host in a bad light. After Morgan’s program replaced King’s on CNN, he recalls that King compared watching Morgan’s version of the program to “watching his mother-in-law fall off a cliff into his new Bentley.” For his part, Morgan digs into King’s complicated marital history, a joke that Morgan later claimed King would have appreciated.
Despite what some consider to be a clumsy compliment, Morgan includes a sweet photo of fellow professionals together and ends the tweet by acknowledging that King was a “brilliant presenter and masterful TV interviewer”. Morgan has already tweeted jokes that users found inscrutable, and it is possible that his intentions with this tweet were more pure than they were being perceived. Morgan reminiscing about a time when King roasted him wildly may have been a sign of respect. Fortunately, responding in the same way, burning King’s multiple marriages, was a friendly joke made in good faith. Still, it is indisputable that Piers Morgan‘S “joke” was at least poorly timed.
Source: Piers Morgan/ Twitter
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