Good Morning Britain has been hit with almost 300 Ofcom complaints after Piers Morgan appeared to mock the Chinese language.
The ITV host appeared to leave his co-host Susanna Reid cringing during the discussion which aired on Tuesday (January 21).
Ofcom has confirmed to Standard Online that they have received 297 complaints in just 24 hours.
The 54-year-old TV host was discussing Peter Phillips’ commercial for state milk, which aired in China, when he made the odd comments.
After claiming that Phillips had “exploited” his royal status, Morgan said: “At the next royal event, can you imagine Christmas at Sandringham is like, ‘I’m sorry your majesty, but I only drink yang yank yong ying ming milk’.”
As they aired the advert again, Morgan said: “Ok then – ching chang chong, ok I got it.”
Reid scolded him and said: “For god’s sake… taking the mick out of languages is rather 1970s.”
Defending himself, he added: “Surely you can take the mickey out of it! He’s using ching chang chong milk from the Chinese state – that’s what they said in the advert!”
He later defended his actions on Twitter when criticised by social media users and said that he was “mocking a member of the royal family” and not people from China.
Viewers had flooded Morgan’s Twitter page in shock at his comments, including Barnes, who tweeted: “Just saw @piersmorgan on GMB mocking Chinese people on the way they speak, what are the odds he faces no criticism for it.”
Referring to actor Laurence Fox’s recent controversial comments, Barnes added: “There’s an example for Laurence Fox of white privilege.”
The incident took place during a debate about Harry and Meghan Markle‘s decision to step lose their HRH titles and work towards financial independece.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV.
