PIERS MORGAN has slammed IKEA after a number of brands pulled their advertising from GB News programming this week.
The 56-year-old branded the Swedish furniture company "pathetic virtue-signalling twerps" after they announced on Twitter that they had no idea their adverts were running on GB News.
At least six other brands including Nivea, Grolsch, Kopparberg and Octopus Energy followed suit, quickly announcing that their adverts would be pulled from GB News effective immediately, prompting calls for a boycott from a large number of social media users, including Morgan.
After IKEA said it had "not knowingly" advertised on GB News, and that they were "in the process of investigating how this may have occurred," the former Good Morning Britain host hit out.
"Oh shut up, you pathetic virtue-signalling twerps. I'm now boycotting IKEA," he tweeted.
Oh shut up, you pathetic virtue-signalling twerps.
I’m now boycotting IKEA. https://t.co/8hRc1cPIPi— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) June 15, 2021
Former BBC broadcaster Andrew Neil, who now leads GB News, also tweeted the Swedish furniture giants, accusing them of hypocrisy for pulling their advertising due to news channel's alleged values.
"Here are IKEA's values - a French CEO who is a criminal with a two year suspended jail sentence for spying on staff," Neil wrote.
GB News, which officially launched on Sunday, promises to be an anti-woke, pro-British news channel, offering more editorial balance in their news coverage than the likes of the BBC and Sky.
During his opening monologue, Neil said that the channel will "puncture the pomposity of our elites in politics, business, media and academia and expose the growing promotion of cancel culture for the threat to free speech and democracy that it is."
IKEA has decided to boycott GB News because of our alleged values. Here are IKEA’s values — a French CEO who is a criminal with a two year suspended jail sentence for spying on staff. https://t.co/Z82CvME7pY
— Andrew Neil (@afneil) June 15, 2021
However, critics fear the channel will be broadcasting un-balanced, US-style partisan news shows.
As such, left-wing campaign group Stop Funding Hate (SFH) has begun challenging companies whose adverts appeared during GB News' first broadcast, pressuring them to pull their adverts or face nationwide boycotts of their products.
In response, a number of MPs and free speech campaigners hit out at the anti-democratic nature of SFH's tactics, and criticised big businesses for bowing to 'bullying' and 'sinister' left-wing pressure groups.
