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Privacy NoticeGood Morning Britain has received 8,201 complaints following Ed Balls’ fiery exchange with MP Zarah Sultana. Ofcom confirmed on Wednesday (August 7) that they had received reports concerning how host Ed Balls and his co-presenter Kate Garraway grilled Coventry South MP Zarah and Ed’s interview antics with his wife Home Secretary Yvette Cooper. Ed locked horns with Zarah when the MP for Coventry South blasted him for what she perceived as “sneering contempt” during their heated discussion on far-right violence in the UK on Monday’s show (August 5). After the tense moment, Zarah didn’t hold back, hitting up social media to fire off: “The sneering contempt of ‘journalists’ will never stop me from calling out racism and Islamophobic hate.”
Good Morning Britain has been bombarded with a whopping 8,201 complaints following Ed Balls’ fiery exchange with MP Zarah Sultana
(Image: ITV)
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While sparring live on air, Kate Garraway butted in telling Zarah, “We have to ask you questions as well,” which led Ed to chip in: “And if you want to, you can answer them it’s your call.”, reports the Manchester Evening News. Things continued to escalate as Zarah spat back: “I’m going to wait for Kate to finish her question if that’s alright,” prompting Ed to retort: “If you want to answer the questions, you can but you don’t have to.”
The watchdog regulator confirmed that the complaints were related to the presenters’ questioning of Coventry South MP Zarah
(Image: ITV)
Later on, Kate probed Zarah further asking, “Why is it important for you to use that specific word ‘Islamophobic’? It’s been called racist, it’s been called thuggery,” before Ed jumped in to clarify: “They definitely said racist over the weekend.” When Ed questioned the use of the term “Islamophobia” by either Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer or Home Secretary Yvette Cooperwho happens to be Ed’s wifeshe confirmed they had not used it. This revelation caused a stir among viewers who then lashed out at the ITV breakfast programme, suggesting that having Ed interview his wife might be a conflict of interest.
ITV defended the decision to let Ed Balls interview his wife Yvette Cooper on GMB
(Image: ITV)
Defending its position to the BBC, an ITV spokesperson declared that their interviews are conducted with fairness and impartiality. “Following a weekend of rioting and national unrest, GMB featured a range of interviews and discussion around this national emergency on today’s programme,” ITV explained to BBC News. The statement continued, ensuring viewers that “[These] included James Cleverly, Shadow Home Secretary and Yvette Cooper, Home Secretary. We are satisfied that these interviews were balanced, fair and duly impartial.” Good Morning Britain airs weekdays on ITV1 and ITVX at 6am Want all the biggest Showbiz and TV news straight to your inbox? Sign up for our free Daily Star Showbiz newsletterStory SavedYou can find this story in My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.Follow OK! MagazineFacebookTwitterCommentMore OnGood Morning Britain
