Piers Morgan speaks onstage during the Headlines and Harmonies panel discussion at SXSW London. Hoda Davaine/Getty Images Very few guest speakers would dare to criticize the major conference hosting them from its own stage. But that’s why you invite Piers Morgan to these things.
Arguably the biggest news of the second annual SXSW London has been the cancellation of talks by Cenk Uygur, 56, the founder and host of the left-wing American media outlet Young Turks, as well as his nephew, progressive Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, 34, who has roughly three million followers on the platform. The speakers were invited by the U.K. offshoot of the long running Austin festival (which is owned by Penske Media, which owns The Hollywood Reporter) only to discover that Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood had banned them from entering the country. The reason the Home Office cited for cancelling their electronic travel authorizations, or ETAs? That their presence “may not be conducive to the public good.”
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Both men have been extremely critical of Israel, taking sometimes wildly controversial stances — particularly Piker, who has expressed support for Hamas.
Now, instead of their SXSW London talks, both Uygur and Piker will be speaking virtually at the Oxford Union, a debating society that they were also planning to attend during their U.K. trip, on Friday.
At his Thursday afternoon panel, Morgan was quick to come out swinging on behalf of Uygur, a regular guest on Morgan’s YouTube show, Piers Morgan Uncensored.
“The Oxford Union raced to defend him and this organization didn’t, and I’m a bit disappointed by that, but I’m using my right to free speech to say that at their own event,” Morgan said. He added that he felt like U.K. citizens ought to “stand up nationally and demand that debate be allowed in the country … and express itself in a free, democratic manner, if we believe that our country is a free, democratic country.”
He continued, “But the other problem with the modern world is everyone is terrified of expressing opinions, and I’m not surprised that when an guy is at LAX trying to get on a plane to come debate here, he’s banned from coming to express his opinions by a free, democratic country.”
Though Uygur wasn’t given an official reason why his visa was revoked, Morgan said he was certain he knew why.
“It was actually because he’s quite critical of the Israeli government,” said Morgan. “Well, so am I. Will I be allowed back into Britain? Would all of you race to defend me? Would there be a campaign to have me brought back to Britain, or would you all celebrate my demise?”
The moderator, Deadline’s international investigations editor, Jake Kanter, pointed out that SXSW London has said that the decision to cancel Uygur’s and Piker’s talks was based on a decision out of their control made by the Home Office.
“Sure,” said Morgan. “But they could have stood up for actually saying he should be allowed to come in.”
The audience applauded in agreement.
Morgan himself has been at the center of much debate around the war in Gaza, particularly for the harsh criticism he’s received for starting each interview with a Palestinian guest by asking, “Do you condemn Hamas?” He’s since spoken out about the suffering of the people in Gaza at the hands of the Israeli government and said he chose that controversial opener as a way to spark true debate.
The morning before Morgan’s talk, Uygur went on Sky News and called the British government’s ban “Kafkaesque” and “Orwellian.”
“Why is your government, and also my government in America, so obsessed with this tiny little country and whether theirs feelings have been hurt?” Uygur asked on TV. “How about the feelings of the Palestinians or the Lebanese as they’re being invaded by Israel right now or Iran as they’re being attacked by Israel right now? Are we not concerned about their feelings?”
Morgan’s Thursday panel was tamely titled “Headlines & Harmonies,” and included a discussion about managing one’s public image with Welsh mezzo soprano Katherine Jenkins.
Among Morgan’s other hot takes, he declared that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have no standing to complain about violations of privacy when the Duchess of Sussex recently posted Instagram photos of their 5-year-old Lilibet’s birthday. He also called artificial intelligence “an incredibly brilliant journalistic tool,” while citing his fears of it getting too smart.
“That was a disgraceful incident, just as bad, in my opinion, as what happened to George Floyd,” said Morgan. ”And I think that kind of double standard by politicians irritates a lot of people in this country, and I don’t think we need to categorize them all as far right or lunatics or ghouls or hooligans.”
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