Piers Morgan has caused a stir online with a recent string of posts about Beyoncé, whom the British TV personality jokingly accused of “cultural appropriation” in a Marilyn Monroe-esque Levi’s photo shoot.
It all started with a Wednesday (Aug. 6) post on X, in which Morgan shared a photo of the pop superstar modeling Levi’s denim and sporting bouncy blonde curls. “Very disappointed to see Beyoncé culturally appropriate Marilyn Monroe in her new Levi’s ad,” the media personality wrote.
It wasn’t long before people came to Bey’s defense in the replies, lambasting Morgan for dissing the 35-time Grammy winner and misusing the term “cultural appropriation,” as the late actress was a person and not a culture. Morgan, however, continued stirring the pot, sharing an old photo of himself with Bey and writing, “I would say I can’t believe anyone took my obvious Beyoncé joke post seriously … but I forgot the woke brigade have zero sense of humour.”
And in response to one commenter who said that the Destiny’s Child alum is “hotter” than the late Hollywood icon, Morgan said, “I don’t disagree.”
Billboard has reached out to Bey’s rep for comment.
This is far from the first time Morgan has sparked discourse by making inflammatory remarks on his social media accounts, or on his show Uncensored. He’s also not the only person who’s had something to say about Bey’s campaign with Levi’s, with Megyn Kelly recently dissing it as “artificial, fake, enhanced [and] trying too hard” while praising Sydney Sweeney’s widely criticized American Eagle jeans commercials.
But while Kelly was being totally serious with her comments, Morgan has asserted that he was just joking in his post about Bey. In response to iconic singer Dionne Warwick commenting that he was “getting involved in women’s business again,” he wrote, “Oh not you too, Dionne… it was a JOKE!”
That said, Morgan did double down on a controversial take. “I think the whole concept of ‘cultural appropriation’ is bulls–t,” he added on Wednesday. “What’s wrong with celebrating another country’s fashion, food etc?”
The back-and-forth comes about 10 months after the last notable time Morgan got himself in trouble with the BeyHive. In October, the British contrarian invited singer-songwriter Jaguar Wright onto Uncensored and aired her claims that Bey and Jay-Z were “monsters” with “hundreds of victims,” shortly after which the famous couple’s lawyers denied the allegations and demanded that Morgan remove them from the episode.
The show host obliged, telling viewers at the time, “There are legal limits on us, too … We apologize to Jay-Z and Beyoncé.”
Beyoncé has not commented on any of the drama surrounding her Levi’s campaign, which has been ongoing since last year. She and the fashion brand recently released a new commercial showcasing the star trading in her horse for a motorcycle, something many fans believe was a hint that her next LP will be a rock album.
