Celebrities
Sinead Butler
Sep 12, 2021
We all knew that Piers Morgan wouldn’t let the opportunity of Emma Raducanu winning the US Open pass without using it as a way to promote himself.
Indeed, the broadcaster and journalist may have gone beyond even his own sometimes unbelievable standards. Now, it appears he’s actually taking some credit for the teenager’s incredible accomplishments.
After Raducanu won in a stunning straight-sets victory in New York on Saturday, lots of people rushed to mock Morgan, who had of course told her to “toughen up” after she pulled out of Wimbledon this summer.
Morgan had backed former tennis player John McEnroe for saying that Raducanu withdrew from the London tournament because she couldn’t handle the pressure. He wrote: “Ms Raducanu’s a talented player but couldn’t handle the pressure and quit when she was losing badly. Not ‘brave’, just a shame. If I were her, I’d tell my fans to stop abusing McEnroe, & seek his advice on how to toughen up & become a champion like he was.”
But, as people reminded him of his comments and suggested he should be embarrassed, Morgan wasn’t accepting any of the criticism and instead turned the whole situation around to claim that she won after he gave her advice...
A bad day? I've been totally vindicated. She took my advice and won. https://t.co/Z6BvbAnuGT— Piers Morgan (@Piers Morgan) 1631400853
And he didn’t stop there.
Replying to another tweet that roasted him for previously questioning Raducanu’s mental strength, Morgan said fans should be thanking him. “I said she needed to toughen up after she quit. She toughened up. The words you’re seeking are ‘Thanks Piers’,” he wrote.
Then, there was more:
Imagine if @EmmaRaducanu had taken Twitter’s advice & carried on ‘bravely’ and ‘heroically’ quitting and losing… th… https://t.co/kaDehbnT8d— Piers Morgan (@Piers Morgan) 1631402604
His tweet was presumably referencing those who had supported, rather than berated, the tennis star for pulling out of Wimbledon.
And, as more criticism came in, Morgan continued to back himself:
Mr tennis legend Motivator. 💪🎾 https://t.co/2nr4iEx4ax— Piers Morgan (@Piers Morgan) 1631435553
Unsurprisingly, many people were not impressed with his response.
One wrote: “Stop embarrassing yourself, Piers. You don’t actually think she listened to you directly, do you?”
Others had similar responses:
Not Piers Morgan trying to take some credit for Emma Raducanu's US Open win because he criticised her after Wimbled… https://t.co/TGjsKj4BaJ— The Pitts (@The Pitts) 1631407020
Piers Morgan and Nigel Farage hailing Emma Raducanu’s victory is the very definition of shamelessness.— Matthew Stadlen (@Matthew Stadlen) 1631402761
@piersmorgan @EmmaRaducanu No way you”re trying to take credit for her win😭😭😭😭😭 https://t.co/EWfWrakDYh— Olly (@Olly) 1631402763
It’s not the first time Morgan has tried to positively link himself to Raducanu’s success.
When the 18-year-old became the first British woman to reach a US Open semi-final since 1983 after her quarter-final win against Olympic gold medallist and Swiss 11th seed Belinda Bencic, Morgan used the opportunity to claim that Raducanu “totally agreed” with his and McEnroe’s assessment of why she pulled out of Wimbledon, adding: “Brilliant to see her storm back better & mentally stronger - that’s what champions do.”
Yes, absolutely. To be fair to @EmmaRaducanu she totally agreed with me & McEnroe that she didn't handle the pressu… https://t.co/avoiKdmKRK— Piers Morgan (@Piers Morgan) 1631124758
And then he went on to compare himself to the star, completely baffling a lot of people.
It started when Morgan hit out at “wokies” for “going crazy” because the tennis star was “now winning not quitting.” One person replied with the infamous clip of Morgan storming off the GMB studio set and wrote: “Speaking of quitters...” Although Morgan returned back to the set, he eventually quit the show.
Incredibly, Morgan responded to the tweet by comparing himself to the semi-finalist.
Like Emma, I went back into battle - and won. https://t.co/9Q11Oxv0TG— Piers Morgan (@Piers Morgan) 1631124851
Whether he truly believes he helped Raducanu soar to victory, or whether he’s just doing it to wind people up, is unclear. But what is abundantly obvious is how much talent Raducanu has – and that Morgan (and everyone else) will still be talking about her for some time to come.
Top 100
The Conversation (0)
x