Piers Morgan has criticised Rita Ora for sharing “another grovelling apology” after getting “caught again” breaking lockdown rules.
The singer was widely criticised last week for hosting a 30-person private party at a restaurant to celebrate her 30th birthday, with Morgan accusing the singer of sending a poor message to her fans.
But while Ora apologised at the time, she has since had to backtrack again after further details emerged that the singer was supposed to be self-isolating for 14 days after returning from Egypt at the time of her party.
Appearing on Good Morning Britain on Monday (7 December), Morgan’s co-host Susanna Reid pointed out that under new rules, “high net-worth travellers” will not have to quarantine when returning to the UK.
Morgan responded: “Yeah, but they weren’t the rules when she did it and that’s the point. It’s just about trying to abide by the rules. That’s all you’ve got to do. A few more months, but it’s beyond some of them.”
Looking over Ora’s “latest grovelling apology”, Morgan read: “‘While I realise the apologetic words of a pop star might not carry much weight–’ you think, Rita? Sort of loses a bit of power after the first 27,000 apologies, right?’
“‘I do realise that some might seek to follow by my example–’ well, yeah, duh,” he continued. “You’ve got millions of followers. What you should have said is, ‘My message is simple: please don’t behave like me!’”
Rita’s second statement of apology, which was shared on Sunday (6 November) reads: “I recently flew to Egypt to perform at a corporate event for a private company, where my travel party followed protocol and presented negative Covid tests upon entry, as required by Egyptian authorities.
“Upon my return to Britain, I should have followed government advice and isolated myself for the required period. As you know, I didn’t follow government advice and… I apologise again, unreservedly.”
