Miriam Margolyes addresses backlash over using racial slurs towards Andi Peters
Warning: This article contains discussion of racial discrimination which some readers may find distressing.
Miriam Margolyes has responded to the backlash after she called This Morning host Andi Peters a racist slur.
The 85-year-old actress appeared on the ITV daytime talk show on Thursday (3 September) to promote her new memoir, Miriam’s Full English.
However, the conversation bizarrely took a turn when Margolyes began asking Peters questions about his race.
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The Harry Potter star bluntly asked: “What are you?” Before elaborating: “Well, you’re a mix, aren’t you? So you’ve got a Black daddy and a white mummy.”
Peters informed Margolyes that both his parents are Black, after which she used the outdated and offensive phrase.
The host responded that he ‘didn’t know there were shades,’ to which Margolyes said: “There are shades.”
Peters tried to diffuse the awkward interaction by joking that his make-up artist used a ‘lighter shade than normal’ and the producers are ‘getting nervous now’.
However, Margolyes continued: “Don’t be nervous. We welcome everybody, and that’s what I want to write about in my book.”
The remarks caused widespread backlash, and ITV removed the exchange from catch-up versions of the show on ITVX.
Margolyes has now spoken out on the viral moment, while on stage at an audience event about her book.
As per Metro, she said: “I didn't want to embarrass or hurt Andi because he seems very nice.
“I'd never met him before; I didn't know who he was, and I didn't know he was Black until I saw him. When you see someone, of course you know they're Black.”
She continued: “I wanted to know what he thought about it, because that's what interests me,” before going on to use another widely offensive slur, this time about disabled people.
“I wanted to know what he thought about it because that’s what interests me. How do Black people feel? How do Brown people feel? How do fat people feel?” Margolyes listed, also including the slur.
“You see what I mean? All of us feel something about who we are and how people see us, what they think of us.”
The host summarised that ‘in other words you wanted to discuss his identity with him’, to which Margolyes agreed.
She said: “I am fascinated by other people. They are the people that interest me, not the celebrities so much. It’s everybody. What their story is, what made them who they are, why you are the way you are.”
Peters briefly addressed the incident himself after Jeremy Vine praised him on social media for how he handled it.
The presenter wrote: “This is seriously nerve-wracking. No filter. @andipeters dealt with it brilliantly but note at the end – “they’re getting nervous” [the producers].”
And Peters responded: “Thanks JV. As you know, we have to be ready for ANYTHING!!!”
ITV is yet to address the saga.
Tyla has approached representatives of Miriam Margolyes and ITV for comment.
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact Stop Hate UK by visiting their website www.stophateuk.org.
Topics: This Morning, ITV, Celebrity, UK News, News
Madison Burgess