British journalist Piers Morgan apologized to Ed Sheeran after Morgan's Twitter was allegedly hacked. The supposed hacker called the English singer and songwriter a "ginger pr*ck."
The former Good Morning Britainpresenter's Twitter account was hacked on Boxing Day–the British holiday celebrated the day after Christmas.
There were reported incidents of Morgan's account–which has 8.3 million followers–spreading misinformation, using racial slurs, profanity, sexually explicit NSFW language and targeting high-profile individuals including the late Queen and former UK prime minister Boris Johnson.
On January 9, Morgan responded and even encouraged followers to "do your own jokes" after there had been a string of suspicious activity on his account he called "abusive nonsense."
"By the way, apologies for all the abusive nonsense posted on my feed after I was hacked (yes, yes, do your own jokes) on Boxing Day."
He then tagged Sheeran and commented on his hair.
"and in particular to @edsheeran who I think is a very gifted singer-songwriter with a fine head of hair, not a ‘ginger pr*ck.' "
\u201cBy the way, apologies for all the abusive nonsense posted on my feed after I was hacked (yes, yes, do your own jokes) on Boxing Day, and in particular to @edsheeran who I think is a very gifted singer-songwriter with a fine head of hair, not a \u2018ginger pr*ck\u2019.\u201d— Piers Morgan (@Piers Morgan) 1673258851
Twitter users who were incredulous about the account being hacked at all took Morgan's cue and followed through with their own cheeky responses.
\u201c@piersmorgan @edsheeran The hacker being hacked oh the irony\u201d— Piers Morgan (@Piers Morgan) 1673258851
\u201c@piersmorgan @edsheeran 'Hacked' AKA sloshed on whiskey \ud83d\ude02\u201d— Piers Morgan (@Piers Morgan) 1673258851
\u201c@piersmorgan @edsheeran Because of all the 'abusive nonsense' it took Twitter a while to realise it wasn't you actually posting!\u201d— Piers Morgan (@Piers Morgan) 1673258851
\u201c@piersmorgan @edsheeran We've only got your word for it that you were hacked, you have been known to tell lies before\u201d— Piers Morgan (@Piers Morgan) 1673258851
\u201c@piersmorgan @edsheeran The hack was excuse. You just wanted to speak your thoughts out loud.\u201d— Piers Morgan (@Piers Morgan) 1673258851
\u201c@piersmorgan @edsheeran Hard to tease apart the hacked tweets from the regular stream of offal tbf.\u201d— Piers Morgan (@Piers Morgan) 1673258851
Morgan returned to his old form penning his own tweets on January 9 and went after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as usual.
\u201cI seem to recall being forced out of my job at @GMB for disbelieving Harry & Meghan\u2019s unsubstantiated racism claims against the Royal Family. Now he\u2019s finally admitted there was no racism, two questions: \na) Do I get my old job back? b) Why should we believe a word they say?\u201d— Piers Morgan (@Piers Morgan) 1673252268
And it was business as usual with users lambasting the disgraced journalist.
\u201c@piersmorgan @GMB Oh grow up Piers. Your behaviour on that day was beyond pathetic. What a great example of how not to behave in the workplace \ud83d\ude44\u201d— Piers Morgan (@Piers Morgan) 1673252268
\u201c@piersmorgan @GMB You walked off like Jerry from Tom & Jerry remember!!! all of a sudden you're a victim.\u201d— Piers Morgan (@Piers Morgan) 1673252268
Morgan famously had a meltdown and walked off the set of Good Morning Britain in March 2021, following a spat with his co-host Alex Beresford over a discussion about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex following their interview with Oprah Winfrey.
It has been speculated Morgan's obsession and antipathy towards the Sussexes possibly stem from his lingering bitterness after allegedly being "ghosted" by a pre-Royal Meghan Markle.
The combative journalist also called Prince Harry a "d*ckhead" for the planned release of his memoirSpare around the same time as King Charles' coronation following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
The originally scheduled release of Harry's book was delayed until January 10.
On December 1, 2022, Morgan took to Twitter and called the trailer for Harry and Meghan Markle's Netflix docuseries "vomit-inducing."
Most of the tweets on Morgan's account since being taken over by the hacker have been deleted.
His profile picture and bio have also been removed, indicating the social media platform had intervened to put a stop to the malicious activity before Morgan's usual vitriolic tweeting resumed.