ITV has come under criticism by viewers after Ofcom received 1,600 complaints about an episode of Good Morning Britain which aired in January.
Host Piers Morgan sparked outroar during the episode, after mimiciking the Chinese language.
Birmingham Live reports the episodeon January 21 featured a discussion between Piers and Susanna about about the Queen’s grandson Peter Phillips endorsing Chinese state milk in a TV advertisement
This item was part of a wider discussion about members of the Royal Family using their status for possible commercial advantage.
Ofcom received more than 1,600 complaints about Piers Morgan’s mimicry of the Chinese language in this discussion which complainants considered offensive and racist.
ITV addressed the social media furore at the time - but has now been warned by the regulator.
ITV issued a statement telling viewers: "Piers Morgan does not speak Chinese and was trying to mimic the wording of the advert, in order to comically juxtapose the advert’s Chinese language voiceover with Peter Phillips’ claim in the advert, delivered incongruously in English, to drink this milk."
However, they added it fully accepted in this case “the clumsy and spontaneous mimicry of a Chinese accent, and the use of the words “ching chang”.
Ofcom ruled not to pursue the complaint but warned ITV, saying: "Having carefully considered the context within which the comments were broadcast and the action taken by ITV, including discussing these complaints with Piers Morgan and making a public apology, Ofcom concluded overall that this programme did not warrant further investigation under Rule 2.3 of the Code.
"We remind ITV that there are compliance risks in relying on a “combative dynamic” between presenters as a way to provide challenge and context for the broadcast of content which may cause offence.
"This approach can provide significant context, as in this case. However, depending on the particular circumstances, this may not always provide sufficient context to comply with the Code."
