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Piers Morgan slams racist trolls targeting Ashley Banjo over BLM-inspired dance routine

Watch: Piers Morgan rips into BGT viewers who complained about Diversity’s BLM performance

Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid have defended Diversity star Ashley Banjo over the Black Lives Matter-inspired Britain’s Got Talent dance routine which has sparked over 15,000 complaints.

The Good Morning Britain co-presenters addressed the topic live on the ITV breakfast show on Monday (14 September) and condemned people sending threats and racial abuse to Banjo.

Speaking on the show, Morgan said: "What are they complaining about? I'm serious, what are you complaining about?

"George Floyd was a black man in America who died when a white police officer put his knee on his neck for almost nine minutes... a moment that horrified the world.

Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid discuss the 2019 Met Gala on 'Good Morning Britain'. (Credit: ITV)
Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid discuss the 2019 Met Gala on 'Good Morning Britain'. (Credit: ITV)

"Diversity are a brilliant dance group, they are artists.”

Read more: Ashley Banjo makes a defiant entrance to 'Britain's Got Talent' after 15,000 complaints

He went on to read comments from people unhappy with the dance routine who vowed to boycott BGT.

LONDON, -, UNITED KINGDOM - 2019/10/28: Ashley Banjo on the red carpet at The Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards, in partnership with TSB, at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane. (Photo by Keith Mayhew/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Ashley Banjo on the red carpet at The Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards, in partnership with TSB, at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane. (Photo by Keith Mayhew/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

He said: "It's that that offends you? Not the death of George Floyd? You don't have to enjoy it, you can appreciate the art, it's powerful what they did."

He added: "If you can't handle that, there's something wrong with you. You are the problem, you're part of the problem you see?

"By the way, if you don't like me saying this don't watch us either, don't watch GMB as I agree with Ashley Banjo and Diversity, and I think what they did was brilliant. If you can't handle it Britain, wake up."

Reid added: "If you think it's an excuse to send Ashley and Diversity abuse and threats, there is something wrong with you."

Banjo took to social media to address the furore on Sunday, 13 September.

In a seven minute clip posted to Instagram, Banjo said though the majority of the feedback he’d had was positive, he had also received negativity, including threats and racial abuse.

He said: "A lot of the comments showed just why this performance was needed.

"Racism is very real. I knew it before, and I definitely know it now. After this performance, everything that we've received it's been overwhelming in a negative sense sometimes. It's been tough."

Read more: Jordan Banjo reveals online abuse

He added: "If an artist can't use real world issues to inspire their art what's the point? Britain's Got Talent has been the stage for so many incredible performances to express so many different kinds of stories.

"Black Lives Matter, long before it was anything political, was a statement. Black Lives Matter is a fact. It is and always will be a fact, that's what I stand by and what every single one of my team proudly stands by."

Good Morning Britain airs weekdays on ITV from 6am.