On Monday, former CNN host Piers Morgan took advantage of his position as editor-at-large of the UK's Mail Online to pen an editorial harshly criticizing Meryl Streep, who launched a personal attack on Donald Trump during her Golden Globes speech after accepting a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Morgan gives Streep speech two thumbs down
In a scathing editorial bearing the headline "Sorry, Meryl, but that hypocritical anti-Trump rant was easily the worst performance of your career," Morgan pointed out several instances in which Streep displayed hypocrisy, factual inaccuracy and -- in Morgan's own words -- "elitist snobbery" during her now-famous attempted takedown of President-elect Trump.
Morgan apparently took umbrage when Streep appeared to take a jab at working-class Americans when the actress claimed that if all "outsiders and foreigners" were kicked out of Hollywood, Americans would have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts. "I haven’t heard such elitist snobbery since Hillary Clinton branded Trump supporters ‘a basket of deplorables’," wrote Morgan, adding that tens of millions of ordinary Americans would much rather watch their favorite sports than a Woody Allen film.
Piers fact-checks Meryl
But it was what came out of Meryl Streep's mouth next that really caught Morgan's attention. Streep talked about how there were many powerful performances during the past year, but said the one performance that really stunned her was when Donald Trump mocked a disabled reporter -- describing the disabled reporter as someone who lacked "the capacity to fight back."
Morgan fact-checked Streep, correctly pointing out that the incident in question didn't take place in 2016, but in 2015, and that the disabled reporter was hardly a weakling without the "capacity to fight back" but a Pulitzer-prize-winning New York Times journalist who, for several years, had used his position to publicly trash Trump in print.
Morgan then questioned why nobody mentioned the incident during the 2016 Golden Globes ceremony, as the supposed mockery occurred prior to last year's award show.
According to his editorial, Piers Morgan said he laughed out loud with incredulity when Streep preached that disrespect invites disrespect, violence incites violence, and that "we all lose" when the powerful use their position to bully others.
Morgan insisted that few industries encouraged more disrespect and violence than the film industry, and then implied that the actress was guilty of "the very kind of nasty, power-based bullying" that she claimed to detest.
Morgan then closed out his piece by pointing out Streep's ultimate hypocrisy, when she jumped to her feet and gave a standing ovation to convicted child rapist Roman Polanski after he was announced as winner of the Best Director award during the 2003 Oscars.
"Clearly, their collective high moral values are a movable feast," stated Morgan, referring to the Hollywood stars who cheered as Streep lectured the audience about Donald Trump's allegedly immoral behavior.
