Updated June 2nd, 2021 at 16:20 IST
Piers Morgan's column SLAMMING Naomi Osaka over quitting French Open backfires heavily
Naomi Osaka French Open press conferences boycott: British broadcaster Piers Morgan faces severe backlash for labelling Osaka's mental health issues as drama.
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Women's world number two Naomi Osaka has taken social media by storm in the past week ever since she announced that she would be skipping French Open press conferences to protect her mental health. As a result, several celebrities and fans have voiced their opinion on this decision. One of them is English broadcaster Piers Morgan who slammed Osaka's decision to boycott press conferences and claimed it to be a "cynical exploitation of mental health."
Naomi Osaka news: Naomi Osaka French Open fines
The French tennis board showed no empathy towards Naomi Osaka as they imposed a fine of $15,000 since the Japanese ace remained true to her commitment of boycotting press conferences. Moreover, the French Federation also threatened the 23-year old with harsher penalties, including being defaulted if she continued to avoid media interactions throughout the tournament. After the four-time Grand Slam winner's first-round victory against Patricia Maria Tig, President of the French Tennis Federation, Gilles Moretton, said that the penalty imposed on Osaka will be drawn from her prize money.
Naomi Osaka news: Four-time Grand Slam champion posts a heartfelt Instagram post after French Open exit
Naomi Osaka eventually announced her withdrawal from the French Open after she seemingly could not take the back and forth between herself and the French tennis board any longer. The Japanese star put out a heartfelt post on her Instagram account, highlighting that she had been suffering from "long bouts of depression" since the US Open in 2018. Osaka also seemed to suggest that she may take a sabbatical from tennis to regroup.
Naomi Osaka French Open press conference boycott: Piers Morgan slams Japanese ace's mental health drama
Piers Morgan has slammed Naomi Osaka for boycotting the French Open press conferences. In his column, he wrote that instead of Osaka feeling grateful she now wanted to control how the media spoke about her like she is "some kind of dictator." Morgan was not willing to accept that Osaka was actually going through a mental health trauma as he wrote, "It's the worst kind of cynical exploitative bul***** which will distract attention from those with real mental illness who desperately need help."
*NEW COLUMN*
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) May 31, 2021
Narcissistic Naomi's cynical exploitation of mental health to silence the media is right from the Meghan & Harry playbook of wanting their press cake and eating it. https://t.co/UUFZ8iXt7l pic.twitter.com/iAj5ivzOBc
Piers Morgan faces severe backlash for his column
Several fans commented on how Piers Morgan selectively criticises "women of colour" rather than others who deserve to be criticised.
It really astounds me that you spend so much time attacking women of colour in the public eye. And you seem to be obsessed with Meghan. Paid to make baseless attacks for absolutely no good reason. I wonder if you’ll ever look back on this and experience shame.
— Rhammel (@Rhammified) June 1, 2021
Seriously, what is with you bullying women of colour. There are many, many, people actually worthy of criticism. Why don’t you go after them?
— Sam Thomas 💙 (@samthom82) May 31, 2021
Some other fans slammed Piers Morgan for being ignorant with one fan also demanding him to resign as a journalist.
Describing Osaka as an "arrogant spolied brat" really, *really* shows how little you know about her. She's widely regarded as one the kindest, most humble players on tour. Any tennis journalist will attest to that.
— Dan Brusca (@danbrusca) May 31, 2021
I think you should take a page from her book and withdraw from speaking in public. Permanently.
— Matthew Dowd (@matthewjdowd) May 31, 2021
I just read his column and the most jaw-dropping part for me was when he described Osaka as having a "stupendous ego raging out [of] control". Does Piers Morgan have no self-awareness? This from a man who walked off set rather than listen to polite criticism from a colleague.
— My name is Matt (maybe) (@FridayMinus) June 1, 2021
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Published June 2nd, 2021 at 16:19 IST
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