Hugh Grant and Piers Morgan have gotten themselves into an argument on social media after the actor spoke out about his thoughts on the government ruling out a reopening of the Leveson inquiry. The former Good Morning Britain host has branded Hugh a 'hypocrite' and said he could snap him in half in a physical fight.
The Leveson inquiry was a legal case that Hugh famously pushed for. The original inquiry led to the creation of new rules surrounding the way the press operate. There have been opposing opinions on this case, with some calling for tighter controls on the press, while others suggesting that further regulation could lead to censorship.
The Mirror reports that in light of the latest ruling, Piers, 59, and Hugh, 64, erupted into a bitter feud on social media. Piers was not holding back when he branded the actor a 'hypocrite', while also bringing up the Notting Hill star's past arrest for being caught in the act with a prostitute.
He also claimed that the actor had taken money from News UK owner Rupert Murdoch to appear in films, but this has been furiously denied by Hugh. Emotions can be seen to be high between the two stars.
Following the government ruling, a quote by Hugh went viral with him stating: "I have some sympathy, when I’m in a generous mood, for politicians terrified of the Murdochs." In response to this line, Piers raged on X: "REMINDER: Hugh Grant took many millions of pounds from Rupert Murdoch to make movies for him. #hypocrite."
Hugh in turn exploded back at the YouTube star, writing: "Bulls**t. The last time I worked for a Murdoch owned company was in 1994. Which was long before I knew anything about his papers’ methods. Since then I have turned down every single job offer emanating from a Murdoch owned company."
Piers' counterattack stated: "UPDATE: Your movie Florence Foster Jenkins was distributed by Murdoch-owned (at the time) 20th Century Fox in the UK. #HypocriteANDliar." However, this only provoked further pushback from Hugh."
The Bridget Jones star replied: "That film was made for the BBC and Pathé. My contract was with them. I have no control over which local distributor is subsequently used in various countries. Fox was just local distributor for the UK. Keep up."
Wanting to have the last word, Piers wrote: "So, as I said, you took millions from Rupert Murdoch. Thanks for confirming. #Hypocrite."
The social media feud then took an ugly turn when Piers shared Hugh's mugshot from his arrest in 1995. The actor was caught in a police vice trap and was arrested for receiving oral sex in a public place with prostitute Divine Brown, whose real name is Estella Marie Thompson.
Piers shared the mugshot with the caption: "Hi mate @HackedOffHugh." After following the peculiar argument online, some of Piers' followers suggested the pair of ageing stars should settle their differences in the ring.
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One suggested: "I would pay to see Piers and Hugh in a fist fight." Seeming up for the challenge, Piers reacted to the post and wrote: "Any time. Did you see his fountain ‘fight’ in Bridget Jones? I’ve seen harder Weebles."
Not all of the followers were backing Piers however , as one reminded him of his age. They wrote: "'Any time' lol mate you're 60 and don't even train." Not backing down from a physical or online fight, Piers responded: "'Mate’, I literally trained in a boxing gym yesterday… and if I hit Grant half as hard as I hit the mitts, he’d snap in half."
The former TV host then took the challenge directly to Hugh. Posting another message directed at him, Piers wrote: "everyone wants us to have a fight to settle this. I’m up for it if you’re man enough."
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