Ewan McGregor snubs TV show host

LONDON • Ewan McGregor refused to appear, as booked, on breakfast news show Good Morning Britain after realising it is co-hosted by Piers Morgan.

The actor, who is promoting the Trainspotting sequel T2, had been due to appear on Tuesday, but dropped out at the last minute in protest against Morgan's comments about the women's marches last Saturday.

After McGregor tweeted on Tuesday, "Won't go on with him after his comments about #WomensMarch", Morgan responded by writing: "You should be big enough to allow people different political opinions. You're just an actor after all."

On the show, Morgan added that McGregor "couldn't bear the thought of being on the sofa with me because he doesn't agree with me about the women's march".

"I have to agree with what actors think about a particular issue because they're actors. And, as we know, actors' views are more important than anybody else's."

In an article in the Daily Mail on Monday, Morgan - who has proudly trumpeted his friendship with new United States President Donald Trump - took aim at what he saw as "the more repellent side of feminism: the vile, crude, man-hating, violent, nasty side".

The likes of stars Madonna and Ashley Judd, who spearheaded protests, said Morgan, "whipped (the crowd) into a man-hating frenzy".

"Ladies, I love you," he concluded. "But if you let the nasty women win, you lose."

Over the weekend, McGregor tweeted his support for the protesters, saying he was "so proud to see this extraordinary power".

T2 Trainspotting, a follow-up to Danny Boyle's classic 21 years on, has received broadly positive reviews and opens around the country tomorrow.

THE GUARDIAN

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on January 26, 2017, with the headline Ewan McGregor snubs TV show host. Subscribe