Piers Morgan has come under fire for leaping to the defence of Lord Sugar after he was branded racist for a tweet he posted on Wednesday.
The ‘Apprentice’ star was forced to apologise after sparking a backlash when he shared a photo of the Senegal football team likening them to beach sellers.
Sugar initally refused to apologise for the tweet claiming he thought people’s reactions were “OTT”, but later removed the post and said he was “very sorry” for the joke, which he said had been “misinterpreted”.
As conversation about Sugar’s tweet continued, Piers waded into the row to insist his friend is “not a racist”.
He wrote: “I’ve known @Lord_Sugar for 25 years. He can be a halfwit of biblical proportions, and prone to terrible ‘jokes’ as we saw today. But he’s not a racist.”
But Piers then found himself on the receiving end of a backlash for defending Sugar, with many of his followers explaining why the tweet was offensive.
The BBC had faced calls to fire Lord Sugar from his role on ‘The Apprentice’ amid the scandal, but the corporation stood by him.
In a statement, an official spokesperson said: “Lord Sugar has acknowledged this was a seriously misjudged tweet, and he’s in no doubt about our view on this.
“It’s right he’s apologised unreservedly.”
This is far from the first time Sugar has posted offensive tweets that have caused controversy. Back in March, he was condemned for posting a Jeremy Corbyn meme likening him to a Nazi.
He originally brushed off criticism telling one person who called the meme “completely disgraceful” to simply “shut up”, but eventually issued a full apology after being called out by Labour MP John McDonnell.