Piers Morgan has apologised for using homophobic language in a historic EastEnders story that has resurfaced on Twitter.
The Good Morning
Britain presenter said he was “ashamed” of the language he used when writing about a same-sex couple in the
BBC soap in an article for The Sun, which was published 31 years ago. The story led on calls from MPs to take EastEnders off air, after it aired a kiss between gay characters Colin Russell and Guido Smith.
Piers referred to the pair as “yuppie p***s” in the copy, noting that the kiss was aired at a time “when millions of children were watching”.
After actor Michael Cashman, who played Colin, was interviewed for a recent piece in the Guardian about his work on LGBTQ rights, journalist Chris Godfrey tweeted The Sun story to demonstrate what “an almighty backlash” the EastEnders storyline faced at the time.
Having pointed his followers in the direction of Piers’ byline on the piece, the journalist-turned-presenter then issued a full apology on Twitter. As I've said before, I’m ashamed of some of the inappropriate language I used in The Sun thirty years ago about gay stars. They were different times, but that’s no excuse - it was offensive, it was wrong, and I apologise for it. https://t.co/HjdG9VfLZD— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) January 29, 2020Quote-tweeting the article, he said: “As I’ve said before, I’m ashamed of some of the inappropriate language I used in The Sun thirty years ago about gay stars. They were different times, but that’s no excuse - it was offensive, it was wrong, and I apologise for it.”READ MORE: Piers Morgan Labels David Walliams A 'D***head' After 'Annoying' And 'Smug' NTAs Presenting Debut Piers Morgan Slams 'Disgusting' Hugh Grant Over 'UK Is Finished' Comments Ofcom Receives Almost 300 Complaints In A Day After Piers Morgan's 'Chinese' Impression Michael played EastEnders’ first gay character, Colin, between 1986 and 1989.
In 1987, the character made soap history he shared a forehead kiss with Barry Clark, which was the first gay kiss to be screened on prime time
British television.
Two years later, Colin’s kiss with Guido became the first mouth-to-mouth gay kiss on a British soap.
After leaving EastEnders shortly afterwards, Michael co-founded LGBTQ rights campaign group Stonewall.
He made a brief return to EastEnders in 2016, when his character paid a visit to Dot Branning, played by June Brown.