A guest on the show said that women in burkas ‘do look like letterboxes’
Kate Garraway and Ben Shepherd were forced to cut short a debate about cancel culture on Good Morning Britain which descended into chaos.
Comedian Leo Kearse and lawyer Dr. Shola Mos-Shogbamimu were on the show to participate in a conversation about so-called cancel culture.
However the debate got out of hand when Kearse agreed with Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s controversial comments in 2018 that women in burkas “look like letterboxes.”
The Scottish comedian said that the remark was simply a “visual gag” and that they “do look a little bit like letterboxes,” prompting fury from Dr Mos-Shogbamimu who called his comments “reprehensible.”
He said: “Boris Johnson said he thought that women in burkas look like letterboxes.
“That’s not an expression of hate it’s just a visual gag because they look a bit like letterboxes, it’s not a hateful thing. The only hateful thing I can see is people doing the cancelling, destroying people’s lives. Like a public execution. Destroying people’s lives based on offhand jokes.
“I think cancel culture is poisonous and it’s changing our culture.”
Dr. Mos-Shogbamimu responded: “Your words are utterly reprehensible that you have that audacity to reinforce the ugly words said by Boris Johnson. Acting like the lives of those Muslim women are less important than a privileged man…
“They were abused on the street, they were attacked, their ordinary lives were negatively impacted.
“And you sit there with the audacity to think it’s OK to justify it and that is why you are part of the problem.”
Eventually Garraway had to stop the debate, saying that they had to go to an ad break.
Kearse’s comments sparked outrage on Twitter, with several accusing him of racism.
One person asked: “Who was the racist on ITV’s GMB (Leo) today? #GMB”
https://twitter.com/MelvynHigson/status/1486977625365139457
Another said: “Leo, did he really just say that on National TV? He said they really do look like letterboxes, he really should of stayed in bed this morning and watched from afar”
A third wrote: “@GMB you need to vet your guest bookings, completely unacceptable. First Quentin Letts and now this Leo guy, wtf is wrong with people. Well done @SholaMos1 Speechless.”
https://twitter.com/ThatGeordie1/status/1486971939692417026
And a fourth exclaimed: “Wow!! How you can let Leo come on here and agree with Boris and say what he did about Muslims women! #gmb need to apologise for having him on”
Related links:
- GMB guest urging people to ditch conservatories while sat in one labelled ‘hypocrite’
- Louis C.K.’s Grammy nom sparks debate about whether cancel culture actually exists
- Joe Biden calls Fox News reporter ‘stupid son of a b*tch’; after question at White House
