Piers Morgan, 54, spoke out about Jo Brand, 61, after she referenced the trend of throwing milkshakes at right-wing politicians in a controversial joke. The comedian mentioned she has had a fantasy about throwing battery acid over politicians instead of milkshake, during a comedy sketch. In response, the Good Morning Britain presenter accused the comedienne of “inciting” people to “throw acid at politicians” in a tweet. Jo’s comment, which aired on BBC Radio 4 show Victoria Coren Mitchell’s Heresy, came after she was asked about the state of politics in the UK.
She said: “Well, yes I would say that but that’s because certain unpleasant characters are being thrown to the fore and they’re very, very easy to hate
“And I’m kind of thinking: ‘Why bother with a milkshake when you could get some battery acid?
“That’s just me. I’m not going to do it, it’s purely a fantasy, but I think milkshakes are pathetic, I honestly do, sorry.”
Piers took the opportunity to address Jo’s statement in view of his six million Twitter followers this afternoon.
Retweeting Jo’s quote from last night’s programme, the outspoken star added: “Disgusting. This is an incitement for people to throw acid at politicians. Shame on you, Jo Brand.”
Piers’ fans took to the comments section to air their views about Jo’s political remark.
One wrote: “Vile! It’s honestly shocking that somebody would even jokingly suggest this especially with the amount of acid attacks that happen!”
Another replied: “Most people agree that inciting violence is when comedy stops being funny.”
A third disagreed: “It’s certainly a misjudged attempt at comedy & in very poor taste but it’s hardly an incitement unless you get all dramatic and make it one, earlier you posted about snowflakes? Keep the debate balanced Piers.”
A fourth added: “Greatly misjudged, I think she even realised it after she said it. I like Jo’s comedy, she is cutting, but a step too far on this occasion maybe…”
Earlier today, Nigel Farage, 55, also took to Twitter to criticise Jo’s joke.
The leader of the Brexit Party, who was covered in milkshake himself in Newcastle city centre last month, accused the comic of inciting violence.
He retweeted Jo’s comment to his one million followers and wrote: “This is incitement of violence and the police need to act.”
At the end of show, host Victoria, 46, said she hoped Jo’s suggestion had not caused offence, but also explained the radio series was created to “test the boundaries of what is OK to say and not say”.
Victoria later responded to the politician’s claims on Twitter, implying he has double standards.
She wrote in view of her 426,000 followers: “Nigel! I’m genuinely disappointed.
“We don’t agree on everything, but I would totally have had you down as a free speech man. Especially when it comes to jokes.”
In response to the controversial reception of the programme, a BBC spokesperson said: “Heresy is a long-running comedy programme where, as the title implies and as our listeners know, panellists often say things which are deliberately provocative and go against societal norms but are not intended to be taken seriously.”
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