Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid bicker over Thandie Newton’s God is a woman comment

WHEN Thandie Newton made a throwaway comment on receiving her much-deserved supporting actress gong at the Emmy’s yesterday, she surely can’t have imagined it would spark a row on Good Morning Britain — but it has.

The 45-year-old actress caused a stir when picking up the prize for her memorable role in HBO’s sci-fi western Westworld, saying: ‘I didn’t even believe in God, but I’m going to thank her tonight.

‘I am so blessed, I am so blessed even without this I am so f****** blessed.’

And, never one to shy away from controversy, presenter Piers Morgan took it upon himself to be offended on behalf of mankind.

Following a debate on GMB with devout Catholic Ann Widdecombe over whether God has a gender — during which the former MP said: ‘I’ve never heard such nonsense… throughout the entire New Testament, Christ is a “He” and Christ refers to God as “the Father”‘ — Piers said he found it ‘offensive’ that Thandie thanked a god in which she doesn’t even believe.

‘What’s it got to do with an atheist what we call God? Seriously atheists, keep your big noses out of it,’ he said.

‘It’s nothing to do with you. “I’m an atheist I’ve decided God is a her.” Shut up!

‘Honestly, it’s ridiculous. It’s like me saying I’m an Arsenal fan but I think Tottenham should do this. Nobody cares.’

At this point that his long-suffering co-host Susanna Reid couldn’t resist quipping dryly: ‘Some people accuse you of thinking you’re God.’

To which Piers retorted: ‘If I am, I’m a male God. It’s not a crime to be a man, it really isn’t — you don’t get arrested now for being male.’

And his rage continued after the break when he started demanding that icons such as Mother Nature and the Statue of Liberty should be rebranded male as ‘the quid pro quo for God’.

‘I’m gonna start getting really offended by things which are not remotely offendable, and I’m gonna start demanding that they all be called male things,’ he said.

But running out of steam after Lady Liberty, he said: ‘What else can we change?’

To which Susanna flashed back: ‘I dunno, when are you gonna change?’

‘This is my new campaign,’ Piers retorted. ‘I’m gonna start flipping all this sexist nonsense on its head, and we’re gonna go the other way. Men are gonna seize back their country.’

An exasperated Susanna couldn’t let that slide, saying: ‘Really? The whole point of feminism is it was going that way for quite a long time.’

Piers replied: ‘And then you all just over-egged the soufflé in your kitchens and you got a little bit too carried away and you decided to criminalise the word man, and I’m not having it.’

But Susanna had the last word, saying: ‘Thanks for mansplaining feminism.’

Author: Anna Thomson