I’m Thankful for Pop Stars Owning Piers Morgan on Twitter

As one of the single most obnoxious trolls across the pond, Piers Morgan is no stranger to getting his ass handed to him by A-List celebrities. If what the British TV host had to say wasn’t so regressive and harmful, it’d actually just be fun to watch him get consistently destroyed. Last month, celebrities roasted Morgan for insinuating that Daniel Craig holding his child was emasculating. But the host’s most notorious and longstanding beef has been with female celebrities’ feminist creeds. He has attacked countless women for “hypocrisy” over dubbing themselves feminists while also exposing their bodies—two things that aren’t mutually exclusive. In 2014, he came for Emma Watson, accusing her of “dictating” how women behave as feminists. In 2016, he slammed Beyoncé for “playing the race card” on her new album. Now, he’s in way over his head in a feud with Ariana Grande and Little Mix—and for that, I’m really thankful.

Ariana Grande has had such a special year of clapping back at garbage people. By standing up for herself, she’s inspired many to do the same, and she’s leading by example. Some of her more recent hall of fame clap backs include telling a fan who criticized her forehead to “suck my dick;” writing an emotionally mature bop about her breakup with Pete Davidson, then savagely releasing it 30 minutes before SNL aired; and now, she’s spearheaded a Thanksgiving Eve Roast of Piers Morgan. Technically, it’s always Roasting Piers Morgan Hour on Twitter, but there’s something extraordinarily satisfying about watching the world’s biggest pop star talk to the TV host like he’s a petulant child in need of a time out—because he is.

Piers is the embodiment of every baby man who feels aggrieved on a daily basis by women using their voices. He can’t grapple with the supernatural phenomenon of women simultaneously being talented, successful role models, and also baring their bodies as proud shows of body positivity. And don’t even try to explain to his toddler brain that women can be role models because of the ways in which they flaunt their sexuality and body confidence. 

In fact, the very agency women have to choose how to present themselves is the reason why so many women want to strip down on a public platform. Because while men have spent centuries doing whatever the fuck they want, women’s bodies have been shamed, picked apart, criticized and politicized at the hands of men. And for what it’s worth, no one understands this conundrum more than public-facing women, or more specifically, pop stars—which is part of the reason why pop music is so exciting right now. Our pop stars are culture changers.

But to rewind, here’s what happened with bitch boy Piers Morgan. Last Monday, he attempted to call out Ellen DeGeneres for her “hypocrisy” in “modern feminism” after she posted a video montage of shirtless men to celebrate #InternationalMensDay. But he didn’t stop there. The busy bee soon moved on to spark a beef with Little Mix. The British girl group just released a music video for their song “Strip,” in which they “strip” down and paint the very condemnations that are been lobbed at them on their skin. They took the power out of these words by owning their bodies and flaws—which seems obvious to anyone who’s ever consumed a piece of pop culture. But not to Piers. Morgan tweeted at the girl group, alleging that they stole the idea from a Dixie Chicks Rolling Stone cover. He then called Little Mix member Jesy Nelson’s underwear photoshoot on Instagram “grim,” and accused of her of using nudity to sell albums. Subsequently, Ariana Grande’s mother came to the girl group’s defense, and Ellen’s, in a tweet to Morgan, and that’s when the Clap Back Queen stepped in.

Piers responded to Grande’s mother with yet another accusation—this time suggesting that her daughter also uses nudity to sell albums. Here’s what you need to know about Piers Morgan: like all apoplectic baby men who are aggrieved that women can do things now, it’s not that he wants to call women out: it’s that he wants to garner attention for doing so, and transitively publicly shame them. So, he knew exactly what he was getting into by coming for Ariana. In a way, she fell right into his obtuse trap. But I’m glad she did, because someone needs to speak to Piers the way he deserves to be spoken to—and who better than today’s biggest pop star, one who’s been the center of insidious media attention amidst a very public breakup?

Here’s what Ari said:

Ellen is an incredible & kind human being.. I use my talent AND my sexuality all the time because i choose to. women can be sexual AND talented. naked and dignified. it’s OUR choice. 🖤 & we will keep fighting til people understand. i say this w all due respect but thank u, next. https://t.co/wSknRSlJN8

— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) November 21, 2018

also @piersmorgan, i look forward to the day you realize there are other ways to go about making yourself relevant than to criticize young, beautiful, successful women for everything they do. i think that’ll be a beautiful thing for you and your career or what’s left of it. 🖤

— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) November 21, 2018

She also tweeted a photo of a (mostly) naked Morgan to call him out on his favorite subject: hypocrisy.

when u do it it’s ok tho right? https://t.co/FJyF24ZlYx

— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) November 21, 2018

Little Mix thanked Ariana for coming to their defense, writing, “what we do with our bodies is our choice and we felt liberated owning the negative words thrown at us as women. We’ll never stop talking/writing music about issues that affect so many women around the world. We have a voice to use it!”

Morgan’s fellow British TV host troll, Julia Hartley-Brewer, also slammed Little Mix for their “Strip” music video last week, and in response another pop star came to their defense. Queer fave Lauren Jauregui responded to Hartley-Brewer by tweeting, “If your intention is the empowerment of women, how about you don’t add yourself to the list of misogynists who deem what is appropriate enough to be “respectable”. All forms deserve respect. They are no less empowered because of their clothing choices.” She added, “Don’t be salty they look”

Pop stars have always used their bodies and sexuality to deliver a message. The difference between what Morgan is accusing them of—using sex to sell music—and feminist messaging is, once again, autonomy. The music industry hasn’t been kind to women in the past, and has absolutely pressured or forced women in pop to shed their clothes to sell albums. But that’s not what modern pop acts like Little Mix and Ariana Grande are doing—which seems pretty fucking clear, and I can’t believe we still have to explain this stuff to thick-headed lizard men like Piers Morgan, but here we go.

Pop stars like Little Mix and Ariana Grande are shifting the cultural narrative by calling out how women are treated in media, and rewriting the dialogue themselves. By embracing their flaws, imperfections, bodies and sexualities, they’re showing fuckfaces like Piers Morgan that women in entertainment are no longer bound by the chains of the patriarchy. There’s no going back to how it used to be, because our depraved patriarchal history still haunts us every day. That’s why we need stars like Little Mix to encourage young girls to love their bodies, and women like Ariana to help them stand up for themselves against craven British TV flops. That’s what I was grateful for this Thanksgiving. Thank u, next.