Taking a stand for Queen Bey! Loyal Beyhive member Matt McGorry got into a Twitter war over Beyoncé with Piers Morgan on Monday, April 25.
Their spat was inspired by Morgan’s heated op-ed for the Daily Mail, published earlier this week, which slammed the superstar’s new visual album, Lemonade, for fearlessly touching upon the topic of racial politics, among many other things.
Morgan, 51, labeled Beyoncé’s latest work as “shameless exploitation” and referred to her song “Formation” as “an attack on U.S. police.” He even took aim at the pop diva, 34, by calling her a “born-again black woman with a political mission” in the piece’s headline.
The ex–America’s Got Talent judge received major backlash for his opinions about Beyoncé. In what seemed like an attempt to make nice with the “Irreplaceable” singer’s fans, he tweeted: “Except, that I have huge respect for Beyoncé.” Morgan also shared a still from a TV interview he did with the 20-time Grammy winner back in 2011.
Tea & scones anyone?
Night. #beyonce pic.twitter.com/mZsUU27qCl— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) April 25, 2016
Regardless, an infuriated McGorry, 30, blasted the British television personality via Twitter.
“A man who loves his mom can still be a misogynist, right? I don’t believe that saying you have ‘huge respect’ for her (as an artist & businesswoman) doesn’t mean you can’t also be supporting racism (unbeknownst to you),” the Orange Is the New Black and How to Get Away With Murder star wrote to Morgan. “It’s no different than saying you have ‘black friends’ and therefore can’t be racist. Do you agree with that?”
Morgan responded to McGorry by saying, “I think I’m allowed to critique Beyoncé’s new very political work without being branded racist, @MattMcGorry.”
McGorry continued to lash out at Morgan in a second slew of impassioned tweets.
“.@piersmorgan I think it depends what aspect of the work you’re critiquing. If you don’t like the melodies that’s one thing. But if you’re critiquing her way of speaking about her experiences as a black woman (something you and I will never experience) you are essentially colluding with the status quo (which is the silencing and discrimination of black women),” the actor continued. “Truth is, no one sees themselves as racist. I can even imagine the KKK saying, ‘We aren’t racist it’s just that black people…’ Racism exists on a spectrum and you don’t have to ‘feel hateful’ to be doing a disservice to anti-racism and thus, supporting racism. Make sense?”
In a cover story interview for the May 2016 issue of Elle, Beyoncé clarified the message behind “Formation.”
“I mean, I’m an artist and I think the most powerful art is usually misunderstood. But anyone who perceives my message as anti-police is completely mistaken,” the mom of Blue Ivy, 4, told the fashion magazine. “I have so much admiration and respect for officers and the families of officers who sacrifice themselves to keep us safe.”
“But let’s be clear: I am against police brutality and injustice,” she added. “Those are two separate things.”
