While speaking at a SXSW London panel on Thursday, Piers Morgan once again expressed his disappointment with the arts and culture festival’s organizers for not defending planned speaker Cenk Uygur after he was banned from entering the U.K., telling attendees, “It would have been quite nice for them to stand up actually for free speech.”
Both Uygur, co-creator of the progressive news and commentary program The Young Turks, and his nephew, leftist streamer and political activist Hasan Piker, were barred from entering the U.K. by the nation’s Home Office on Monday, purportedly over their many criticisms of the Israeli government. Piker and Uygur were both scheduled to appear at this year’s SXSW London festival as speakers.
“We are aware that Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker are unable to travel to the U.K. following a decision by the Home Office. They will therefore not be participating in the SXSW London programme this year,” a SXSW London spokesperson said in response to the news earlier this week. “Decisions on entry to the U.K. are a matter for the Home Office and the individuals concerned.”
“SXSW London’s role is to convene a broad range of diverse voices and perspectives,” the statement continued. “We remain focused on delivering a programme this week fostering open dialogue and exchange of ideas and featuring more than 800 speakers, artists and screenings.”
On Thursday, while speaking on a SXSW London panel alongside singer Katherine Jenkins, Morgan called out the festival for not fighting more for Uygur’s right to enter the U.K.
“Cenk Uygur, who is a regular guest on my show, was banned from entering the country. He was supposed to do Oxford Union and this event as well, and the Oxford Union raced to defend him and this organization didn’t,” Morgan told those in attendance. “I’m a bit disappointed by that, and I’m using my right to say that at their own event.”
“It would have been quite nice for them to stand up actually for free speech and demand that Cenk Uygur be allowed in the country and come and debate here and express himself in a free democratic manner, if we believe that our country is a free democratic country,” he continued. “It was actually because he’s quite critical of the Israeli government. Well, so am I. Am I going to get banned?”
His Thursday comments were not the first Morgan has given regarding Uygur and Piker’s U.K. ban. On Monday’s installment of “Piers Morgan Uncensored,” the political pundit slammed the U.K. government over the decision.
“There is a huge difference between criticizing the actions of a nationstate and its government and the hate-filled diatribes of Kanye West or Valentina Gomez,” Morgan said. “But my country is losing the ability to see that difference. It won’t be long before that’s something which threatens all of us.”
On X, Uygur questioned his ban, writing, “I’ve been banned from the U.K. I tried to get on a flight to London to attend SXSW London and give a speech at Oxford. I’ve been banned for criticizing Israel. Are we free anymore? This is oppression of Western citizens by our own governments on behalf of a different country!”
Piker similarly called out the U.K.’s decision and criticized SXSW London’s organizers for not advocating for himself or his uncle.
“SXSW was a minor part of my trip to the U.K.,” Piker wrote Monday on X. “They totally didn’t defend me or Cenk at all, they’re actual f–king losers and I will never work with them for the rest of my life. If you bought a ticket expecting to see me you should demand a refund.”
In its own statement, the U.K. Home Office explained that the decision to bar Uygur and Piker from entry was based on “the grounds that their presence in the U.K. may not be conducive to the public good,” further noting: “Decisions to refuse or cancel an ETA on these grounds are based solely on an assessment of the potential risk an individual may pose to U.K. society.”
