Yahoo News 'Be silent!': Good Morning Britain guest loses his patience with Piers Morgan
He’s known for shouting down guests and going off on rants during his Good Morning Britain shows, but Piers Morgan got a taste of his own medicine when an interviewee commanded him to “be silent”.
Morgan and his co-host Susanna Reid were speaking to sociology professor Ellis Cashmore, Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies, and transgender journalist India Willoughby about a row over whether transgender athletes who were born into a male body should be allowed to compete in women’s sporting events.
Read more: Martina Navratilova sorry for transgender ‘cheat’ claim
Tennis ace Martina Navratilova had found herself in hot water last week when she claimed that transgender women had an unfair physical advantage and although Davies and Willoughby seemed to agree that could be the case, Cashmore argued strongly for equality and acceptance of transgender athletes.
‘If you are a man now, you should compete as a man.’
Sociology professor Ellis Cashmore believes sport should adapt to accept transgender athletes and embrace inclusivity – but Olympic medal winner Sharron Davies says it’ll create an unequal playing field. pic.twitter.com/dFiT37LNKa
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) March 4, 2019
But tensions ran even higher when Morgan’s trademark aggressive questioning style lead Cashmore to tell him to be silent.
Morgan was detailing the case of an athletics meet in Connecticut where teens were competing for a state title and a female-born runner lost out to two transgender women who were physically much taller than her.
As the presenter asked Cashmore how that situation should have been dealt with, he said: “I’m not suggesting that there’s an easy solution here. I think we need to embrace inclusivity.”
Read more: Martina Navratilova dropped by LGBT group over transgender comments
Willoughby also tried to weigh in on the debate as Morgan repeatedly asked: “What does that mean?”
Losing his cool, Cashmore snapped: “Let me answer the question then. Be silent.
“Inclusivity means that we assign the person to whatever event their present day sex suggests they should compete in.”
#gmb how did @piersmorgan not burst out laughing when that bloke told him to “be silent” 😂😂
— Lindsey Pierce (@PierceLindsey) March 4, 2019
Ooohhh, get you..! Piers, be silent. That was funny.. #gmb
— dazzerg (@dazzerg1) March 4, 2019
Morgan complained: “I don’t understand what that even means,” as Cashmore shot back: “Well, our viewers will.”
The professor also had a heated debate with Davies who said that she agreed that transgender women could be at an advantage in sport.
Read more: Piers Morgan walks off GMB to confront Leonardo DiCaprio
Reid later laughed at Morgan for being told to be silent by their guest, but he couldn’t resist one last dig.
He said: “I quite like being silent when guests are hanging themselves like that.”
