Ben Shephard sparks GMB uproar after controversial 'kung-fu' comment: 'Did not say that!'
BEN SHEPHARD sparked controversy among Good Morning Britain viewers on Thursday as several took issue with his phrasing when describing a video link delay with one of the ITV show's guests.
By ALEX DAVIES
PUBLISHED: 13:49, Fri, Feb 26, 2021 | UPDATED: 17:40, Fri, Feb 26, 2021
With children returning to the classroom up and down the country in March, the topic of keeping schools open into the summer to make up for lost time sparked debate on Thursday's Good Morning Britain. Ben Shephard and Susanna Reid were joined by teacher Matthew Burton and mums Afua Adom and Debbie Le on GMB to discuss the proposals and whether it’d be beneficial to children and parents or not.
However, just moments after introducing Debbie, Afua and Matthew onto the programme, Ben addressed a slight technical blunder.
It soon transpired that there was a bit of delay on guest Debbie’s link, as her voice could be heard out of sync with the visuals from the webcam.
However, Ben got on the wrong side of some ITV viewers when he described the mishap as like a “badly-dubbed kung-fu movie”.
Taking to Twitter, several took issue with the phrasing as one weighed in: “Did Ben Shephard really just tell an Asian guest who’s audio wasn’t in sync with their camera that they look like a badly dubbed Kung Fu movie?! #GMB @GMB.”
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GMB: Ben Shephard sparks uproar with controversial comment (Image: ITV)
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GMB: Ben and Susanna welcomed their guests to the summer school debate (Image: ITV)
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A second added: “You did not just say that to Debbie Le?! Oh Ben [face palm emoji] #GMB.”
“Ben DID NOT just say that [eyes emoji] #GMB,” a third weighed in.
While a fourth similarly put: “Ben Shephard on #gmb saying the delay on webcam sound is 'like a badly dubbed kung-fu movie' when the person on the camera is Asian…”
And a fifth added to the discussion: “Wow @benshephard telling Debbie Le it's like she's in a ‘Bad Kung Fu movie’ because her audio and visual are not synced. #GMB.”
GMB: There was a delay in guest Debbie's feed
GMB: There was a delay in guest Debbie's feed (Image: ITV)
Ben’s comments came after Debbie had made her stance on the summer schools clear, admitting she was in favour of the move.
“It’s been a challenging time definitely,” Debbie began. “So when I heard the news I was 100 percent behind it.”
She continued: “I even asked my husband and he was like: ‘Yes, definitely. We’ll definitely send them to summer school.’
“I mean, we’ve had such a crazy year, we’re living in unprecedented times at the moment.
“And, you know, the pandemic has effected my children massively, they haven’t had a normal life this past year.
“They’ve become quite withdrawn, I’ve seen it’s really affected their confidence, emotionally and mentally,
“And for them not to be at school, not to be with their friends - for them to go back to school in the summer I think will be a massive benefit to them.”
But Ben and Susanna quickly jumped in to apologise for the technical error during Debbie's answer, with the latter chiming in: "I just want to apologise for - there's a big delay between the picture and what you're saying."
"It's like a badly-dubbed kung-fu movie at the moment," Ben weighed in.
He added: "We're gonna try to reconnect to you so your mouth and words match up."
The rest of the interview managed to run smoothly without any more technical blips.
Good Morning Britain continues weekdays at 6am on ITV.
