“Oh shut up, you pathetic virtue-signalling twerps. I’m now boycotting IKEA.”
Piers Morgan has hit out at Ikea after the furniture giant became the latest brand to pull advertising from GB News.
Multiple brands have pulled advertising from the new channel, which launched at the weekend and has promised to take on “cancel culture” in its broadcasting.
Brands that have distanced themselves from the news platform include Ikea, Kopparberg, The Open University, and Octopus Energy following their launch on Sunday.
The station is set to broadcast seven days a week in both the UK and Ireland.
GB News is fronted by British broadcaster Andrew Neil, while Morgan himself has also been linked to the channel following his departure from Good Morning Britain earlier this year.
Since its announcement, GB News has faced criticism from campaign groups such as Stop Funding Hate, which hit out at advertisers on social media.
Following Ikea’s decision to step back from the news channel, Piers Morgan has lashed out at the furniture giant on Twitter, writing: “Oh shut up, you pathetic virtue-signalling twerps. I’m now boycotting IKEA.”
Oh shut up, you pathetic virtue-signalling twerps.
I’m now boycotting IKEA. https://t.co/8hRc1cPIPi— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) June 15, 2021
Meanwhile, Neil responded to Ikea’s decision by sharing a news article on Twitter about the company’s French arm being fined £1 million and its CEO receiving a two-year sentence for spying on employees.
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
Alongside the article, Neil wrote: “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.”
Swedish furniture giant Ikea said it had “not knowingly” advertised on GB News, adding that it is “in the process of investigating how this may have occurred to ensure it won’t happen again in future.”
“IKEA has not knowingly advertised on GB News. We have safeguards in place to prevent our advertising from appearing on platforms that are not in line with our humanistic values and vision to side with the many people.
2/3— IKEA UK Support (@IKEAUKSupport) June 15, 2021
We are in the process of investigating how this may have occurred to ensure it won’t happen again in future, and have suspended paid display advertising in the meantime.”
3/3— IKEAIESupport (@IKEAIESupport) June 15, 2021
The company also said it has suspended paid display advertising in the meantime.
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